Last Wish
by Jedelas
Summary: He regretted his decision to kick her off the team. His whole life had went down the hill since that day but he continue to live through it. It was the same situation for her as well. But all that would change from that fateful meeting in the bar. T for violence and blood.
1. Dreams and Memories

**Author's Note: I own none of the Star Fox characters except the OCs. This is my first story and hopefully it will turn out nice. Please read and review. **

**UPDATE(Nov. 10, 2012): I recently edited the chapter, fixing most of the grammatical mistakes if not all of them. Let me know if there are still any mistakes I might have missed. Thanks!**

**Enjoy the story!**

_**Chapter 1: Dreams and Memories**_

The Great Fox slowly orbited around the nearly perished planet in the outer Lylat System. It had been an hour after Fox and Krystal defeated the Aparoids on Sauria. Now that the planet is saved, the team must prepare to head out again and face the menacing creatures which threatens their home system.

Fox leaned on the railing of the observation deck, viewing the magnificent planet in view of the large window up front.

_I wonder when will we come back here again. _He sighed, thinking back what happened an hour or so back.

"_Yeah! Yeah! I'll take care of the things here so you two can come back on your honeymoon!" _Fox chuckled at his Earthwalker friend's words. Though he pondered about it.

"Honeymoon.." He wondered aloud.

"Were you thinking aloud, Fox?" Fox jumped from the surprise of Krystal standing right beside him, getting a giggle from the vixen at his embarrassment.

"Kry-Krystal! I didn't know you were here.." He stuttered, blushing and embarrassed. She just let a smile stretch across her perfect face.

They both stared at the beautiful planet for a few awkward silent moments before Krystal decided to start up a topic.

"Fox, when is the next time we'll be back here on Sauria? I mean like perhaps a vacation or some sort." She glanced up at the vulpine, catching his deep emerald eyes into hers.

"I-I don't know." He managed to mutter, trying his best to hide his blush and looked back at the view of the planet.

Krystal tilted her head, a playful smile now washed across her face as she edged closer and gently placing her paw on his but the vulpine jerked his hand away to her disappointment. She looked up to his face and seeing the nervousness in him, letting out another small giggle.

"Don't worry, I won't bite." She teased.

"I-I.." He tried to find words but they wouldn't leave his tongue, only able to stare into her blue-green orbs.

A moment or so, they just continued to stare at each other, unable to start up another conversation. He didn't have the courage to ask her yet. And even worse, what if she rejects him? He believed someone like himself was not worthy enough to have her anyway. He sighed. _If only…_

Another moment had passed as he started to build up his courage. He turned a bit away from her, taking a deep breath and exhaled. He could do this. He couldn't wait any longer. Now is the chance. He turned to face her only to be greeted by an empty space where she was a minute ago. Where did she go?

"Krystal?" He looked all over the observation deck, finding no one. He sighed and glanced back at the viewing glass only to be shocked. Outside hovering in front of him was a Wolfen. What shocked him the most was the pilot inside it.

"Krystal!" He ran and pressed himself against the glass, attempting to get a closer look to confirm his fears.

She merely glared at him, not saying a word. Another few seconds passed before she turned her craft away and blasted off into the black unknown. Words echoed in his head, they were painful to hear but he couldn't cover his ears and block it off. It was stuck in his head and soon he collapsed, crying to himself as he kept hearing those words..

_I can't forgive you, Fox. You've shattered my heart…_

"No…Krystal!" He yelled at the top of his lungs, his paws gripping the side of his head and baring his fangs, kneeling down and leaned his head onto the glass as he tried to keep his eyes shut to prevent the river of tears from flowing.

"No.."

IIIII

His eyelids slowly opened up and he found himself staring at the dark cold metal ceiling of his room within the Great Fox. It was just another nightmare. Another painful dream to remind him of his terrible decision back then. He couldn't help it. It nearly always get him. He could feel his fur near his eyes soaked in tears. This was torture to him.

He got up from his bed, pulling off the sheets and sat at the side, wearing nothing but his plain gray boxers and a sweaty white tank top. The smell of alcohol was strong on him. He had been drinking ever since she left him. Nearly every night, he'd fly down to Corneria City and start drowning himself at a local bar until he passed out.

"Krystal.." Her name trailed out of his breath. He closed his eyes and sighed in sadness.

Soon, the vulpine finally got up from his bed and headed towards his personal bathroom to take a shower. Maybe then he would freshen up from the nightmare. Maybe the warm water would wash away some of his guilt and lighten up his mood.

Though he may have been down in his mood, he was still the kind fox he was back then. Manners were always in check, honesty, and his other traits. He still helped out once in a while on missions. Mainly just preventing smugglers or escorting. Though it was only him on the team now.

Falco went off with Katt Monroe and another pilot he barely knew and formed team Star Falco. Not the best name but Falco is usually sloppy when it came to naming. They gained popularity fast, but it was mostly because he used to be one of Fox's wingmen. They took on harder missions while Fox alone did the minor ones due to the fact that he was alone.

Slippy left and joined the Cornerian Research and Development Department with his father, Beltino. The two were doing quite well with their current job from developing new fighter engines to further improving warp space. And from rumors, Slippy and Amanda were getting more and more closer, some even said they had planned on marriage soon.

_Lucky guy. _Fox thought, though he may be a bit jealous that his friends had found love, his happiness for his friend overcomes his more negative feelings. It was just not him to be back stabbing people. He never was that type of person anyway.

Peppy, his mentor and surrogate father had rejoined the Cornerian military and taken Pepper's place as the General. The old hare had aged a lot afterwards, sporting a beard-like look on his facial fur and looking more serious and intimidating. But he was still the same rabbit that used to be on the team; always looking out for the vulpine and giving him plenty of advices.

Rob was still with him on the ship to tend to the controls. The robot never seemed to stop. Though at some point during the months he would plug himself to the ship to recharge and go to 'sleep'. The fox would chat with the service bot once in a while and wondered if the mechanical being understood anything they had talked about.

He got out of the shower and dried himself off, wrapping his lower body in a towel and searched his room for a pair of boxers. After finally finding them in a stack of recently washed clothes that were sitting in a corner of his room, he then went searching for some other clothes. He picked up a pair of dark blue jeans and a black sleeveless shirt and put them on, strolling for the door.

Only as he walked out of his room did Rob came rushing from his left.

"What is it Rob?" The vulpine asked, his face got serious, Rob wouldn't be rushing to him unless something is wrong.

"A message from Peppy." The service bot spoke out.

"Is it a mission?"

"No."

"Is he in danger?"

"Negative."

The orange furred fox scratched the back of his head. If it wasn't any of those cases, then Rob wouldn't need to come rushing to him.

"Then why the rush?"

"Peppy told me to get you as soon as possible."

The vulpine just shrugged and headed for the bridge. As he headed to the bridge, he had to pass by the hangar. He couldn't help but stop on the platform overlooking the hangar and look down at the nearly empty area of the ship.

There in the middle sat Fox's Arwing II all alone in the cold. He remembered when there were three more fighters alongside the lone blue ship. He sighed as he remembered the hangar when it was a bit more lively.

But then he looked to his right side and his eyes watered. There, sitting in the furthest right corner of the large area was the Cloudrunner. Krystal's personal ship before she had left. Though it sat there without ever being used anymore, Fox would still maintain it in hopes that maybe the beautiful sapphire vixen would come back. But that was a hope all lost. He now only cherished it as one of the few things left by her.

He looked away and continued on.

As soon as he reached the bridge, Rob immediately went for the controls, tapping on the keys until the hologram came to life and an aged hare's head appeared.

"Fox! It's good to see you again!"

"Hey there Peppy, you're the same as ever." Fox let a slight smile to appear on his face as he continued. "So what's the rush, old timer?"

"Oh! Right! I was about to say happy birthday." The rabbit's head chuckled.

"Oh, thanks," was all the vulpine could say. He couldn't believe he had forgotten his own birthday. Probably because he never really cared much since Star Fox broke apart and all his mind wandered to the blue vixen out there somewhere with Star Wolf.

Star Wolf, just a mention of their name made him clench his paws into tight fists and bared his fangs. He had always wanted to fly back to Sargasso and kick their asses for turning Krystal against her former friends. He especially wanted to deal with the so called Panther Caroso. The black feline's behavior towards females made him sick to the stomach.

"Is something wrong, Fox?" The General eyed him with concern.

The vulpine snapped out of his deep thoughts and shook them away. "Nope, I'm fine."

"Well, if you want, you can come down and I can arrange a private party to celebrate my dearest friend's birthday." The aging hare suggested, grinning with the hope that it would cheer the depressed vulpine at least a bit.

"No, I'm fine Peppy.." Fox faked a smile as he said it. "Thanks though."

"Fox. You can't keep yourself down all the time." The hare started to lecture him. "You have to think brighter. What's in the past stays there. Now you need to think of the future."

"I know." The orange vulpine sighed, scratching his head with an annoyed look on his face.

"No, I don't think you do." The hare gave him a more serious look than before. "It is a shame that she left but you can't do much about it right now. Though I hate to say it, you need to get over her."

The vulpine stood silent, staring at the floor of the bridge, his expression clearly showed the sadness that made its way out of him. He couldn't get over her so easily. Her image, her personality, her everything is burned into his mind and would stay there forever.

"Even if you still have these feelings for her doesn't mean she feels the same for you."

"As if I didn't knew that."

"Then why are you still so upset about it Fox?"

"I-I don't know Peppy.."

"She's not a companion more or less a friend anymore. She's the enemy no-"

"She's not an enemy!" The orange fox slammed his fist onto the panel in anger. It took him a few seconds before he realized what he did and calmed himself down a bit, falling back into his depressed state. "She would never…"

"How are you certain?"

"Because I know her well!" The vulpine shot back. "She's kind, gentle, caring, she would never do such a thing! Even if she's in Star Wolf, she would never go against us and attack us at her own will!"

The rabbit stared into his watery emerald eyes for a minute and sighed, shaking his head and looked back at him. "She could change."

"How would you know?! Are you the all-seeing being just because you got the rank of General?! Only I know her this well! And I'm positive that she wouldn't dare do such acts on us!"

There was a moment of silence within the bridge after Fox's outburst on the matter. His glare on the holographic head of his former mentor eased back and gazed back down to the ground as tears slowly slid down his cheeks. He couldn't imagine it. Krystal wouldn't do such a thing. But he was just lying to himself. The hare is right; people would change in time.

"I'm sorry Peppy…" He finally said. "I need a break. I'll talk to you some other time."

"Fox, wai-" The hologram vanished and the projector went dead as the lone fox pressed a button to end the transmission. He needed to get his mind off the topic. He didn't want his mind to dwell on the possibility of Krystal changing into a ruthless barbaric smuggler like Wolf and his team.

He walked down the halls of the Great Fox slowly, head hanging low. He passed Falco's old room then Slippy's and finally stopped in front of Krystal's. For a moment he just paused there, staring at the shut mechanical sliding door, remembering those times he would be on this exact spot and the beautiful vixen of his dreams would walk out and look up at him with her own jade orbs and smiling. Sadly that will never happen anymore.

He walked up to the door as it responded by automatically sliding open, allowing the vulpine entry into her quarters. As he stepped in, he could still smell the sweet vixen's scent everywhere in her room. Though the bedroom was now void of any of her belongings. He just stood there and looked around before heading to her bed. There, the scent was the strongest because she had laid there countless times during her time in Star Fox. He sat there as he continued to take in her scent and started to wander off in his mind, thinking back to a more happier memory.

IIIII

Fox had been standing outside her room, pacing back and forth and trying to keep calm, building up his courage to do what he wanted to do for a very long time. He wanted to ask her out since the team was free from any missions now. It was a peaceful week. He started biting his thumb nervously while continuing to pace back and forth, playing over hundreds of scenarios of what would possibly come out.

But then he froze in his steps as he heard the door's mechanical hiss. He turned his head slowly to meet the cute vixen's eyes. There he blushed and quickly turned his whole body towards her, rubbing the back of his neck and looking downwards.

"Is something wrong Fox?" She asked out of curiosity.

"N-No..I mean Yes! No…Err… " Fox was cracking his voice a bit, getting the vixen to laughed at how nervous he was.

"Well? Is it a yes or no?" She stepped forward, their muzzles only a few centimeters away.

"Uh…" The vulpine gulped.

_Okay…I can do this! I really can! Just say it!_

"Err…Krystal?" He started, the vixen tilting her head cutely at him, smiling as he continued.

"Yes Fox?"

"Wou…Would you like to go.." He trailed off and cursed at himself but regained his composure, clearing his throat and took a deep breath.

"Krystal, would you like to spend a day down on Corneria with me?" He finally completed his sentence, though he stuttered a bit as well.

_There! I did it, now comes the rejection…_ He looked back down, ears drooping down as he waited for her answer. But then, his eyes widened and body stiffened as he felt the vixen wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Oh Fox! Of course I would! I'd _love _to!" Krystal tip-toed and gave him a peck on the cheek as his face heated up. She only giggled at the reaction.

Those words let him rest easy and he sighed in relief.

"So…I guess maybe in an hour or so?" He asked, trying to regain his calmness; his heart was pounding faster than normal. The vixen released him from her embrace and stood straight, saluting him.

"Yes, captain!" She said with a wink before headed back into her room, door shutting behind her. But just a second later she came back out and grabbed his arm. "Come on in!"

"W-wait! Krystal!" He couldn't help himself, letting her pull him into her room.

She lead him to her bed, telling him to sit down and wait for her as she went for a shower. He did as he was told and just sat there on the edge of her bed nervously looking around. After a long while, she got out of the shower, steam rushing out of her personal bathroom as the door opened. She was wearing a loose pink T-shirt and dark blue jogging pants. The vixen took a seat next to him and smiled as he blushed and avoided eye contact.

"Hm?" She hummed and leaned towards him.

"Uh…Aren't we going to go down to Corneria?" He managed to ask.

"Yes, but right now I want to warm up to you…" She spoke in a seductive tone, making the vulpine's temperature rise more. "…First."

He snapped back to reality. That memory was their first personal talk, not a friend to friend talk but their first conversation as a couple. He sighed, sitting at the exact spot where he had sat that day. He turned to his right and imagined her sitting there again, smiling and paying full attention to him.

It felt like hours had passed before he finally got up and left her room. He needed to clear his mind. Maybe he could just let the alcohol wash his mind off of all these haunting memories.

As he approached his Arwing, he took a quick glance at the Cloudrunner sitting far away in a corner. His eyes glue to her former ship until he finally reached his fighter and jumped into the cockpit, firing up the engines and double checked all the systems before pressing a key on the communicator, connecting it to the Great Fox's bridge.

"I'm ready to leave Rob."

"Affirmative." The robotic voice spoke from the communicator as the hangar gates began to slowly open, revealing the dark void beyond the ship's walls.

He rechecked everything and nodded to himself before jamming the two control sticks forward as the Arwing's engine reacted instantly, shooting the fighter out of the hanger within a second. He eased back and sighed, letting the onboard computer set the course by itself.

_Just dreams and memories… That's all they were…_

He closed his eyes and continued to remind himself that as he neared the planet's atmosphere.

**Author's Note: So here's the first chapter! I'm not sure if I screwed up anywhere in this chapter and I really hope I didn't. It took me quite a while to write this and I've yet to correct any grammar mistakes or such.**

**And again, I own none of the Star Fox franchise, characters and such. I only own the OCs(Which will eventually appear as this story progresses.)**

**And with that, thanks for reading! And please review and give me feedbacks!**


	2. Advice

**Author's Note: Here's the second chapter, I was quite unsure how to go with this. Originally, there were many versions and I can't decide which one to use, but eventually I chose a slower paced version and scrapped the rest.**

**Thank you Cpt. Fox for Beta Reading this chapter and others with encouraging reviews!**

**Also, there will be a POV switch indicator marked by 'IIII', Cpt Fox gave out this tip, thanks Fox!**

**Hopefully this chapter won't disappoint you! Enjoy!**

_**Chapter 2: Advice**_

Fox continued to daydream but it was soon interrupted by a loud _BEEP _coming from the communicator within the cockpit. He shook his head and went straight back into reality and blinked before reaching to answer the call. As soon as he did, a screen popped up with the head of a raccoon in a standard Cornerian spaceport uniform.

"This is Captain Fox McCloud of Star Fox requesting permission to breach Corneria's atmosphere and land at Corneria City spaceport." He adjusted the fighter and it hovered just a few kilometers from the surface of the planet's atmosphere and awaiting approval to land.

"This is Corneria City Spaceport control, you are clear to land in hangar A-12 as soon as you are ready." The raccoon said and saluted. "Welcome back to Corneria City, sir."

The vulpine only nodded and closed the com channel. He started to descend into the planet's atmosphere, adjusting his G-diffuser and making sure it was stable.

The fighter's nose started to glow red hot but he knew it would make it past the heat. After ten minutes of descending the blackness of space began to turn blue and the clouds now appeared closer than before. He pulled the two control sticks back to ease the ship to level as soon as he broke through the atmosphere and now entering the clouds.

Not a minute later he could see the city below, it's form growing bigger as he continued to descend. The space port was to the top right of the city coast on an island with a bridge connecting the spaceport to the mainland.

Fox could see some of Corneria's Battle Cruisers beginning to take off and a few private jets landing. The spaceport seems a lot more busy lately. It has been a week or two since he last landed on Corneria and drowned himself at the bar he usually visited. He could only wonder what had changed since then. A week's time can be enough for anything to happen. He eased back and lazily steered his Arwing towards the port and made ready to land.

The landing was not hard for him, hell it's just as easy as breathing for all he cared. He thanked his years of piloting for that. The vulpine continued to slowly hover the fighter towards his designated hangar and shut off his ship's engine as the canopy of the cockpit hissed open. A bulldog was there saluting him as he got out of the fighter.

"Sir! I'm here to escort you, sir!" The bulldog stated, still standing straight and saluting, looking directly ahead.

"At ease." The vulpine walked up to the soldier as he released himself from that tiring position and gestured to the fox to follow him out.

As soon as they were out of the hangar, the bulldog slid the pass card down the lock and it slowly closed the gates with a clang. The soldier then handed the card to Fox and saluted again before marching away. The vulpine watched the soldier for a moment or so. _Ah the soldiers that stood on duty here never seem to show any flaws. _He thought and a small smile was stretched on his face.

He then quickly made his way out of the space port and decided to take a long walk across the bridge that lead to the city, lost in his deep thoughts of his future. He just couldn't get Krystal out of his mind.

IIIII

Krystal laid down on her bed as the sounds of traffic continued through her window. She had asked Wolf to let her have some time alone. She just have so many things in her mind. She had rented an apartment near the city slums but it was still in better shape than the neighboring apartments. She had been here for a month now and was starting to feel more and more guilty and sad.

Guilty for what she had done to the team, especially Fox and sad because her life only seemed to get worse since after the Anglar Wars. Though Star Wolf was deemed the heroes, she knew better and that it was only because of Star Fox that they'd succeeded. Their fame didn't last long though and they were back to smuggling. She hated it.

She rolled over to the other side, her back facing the window and her eyes shut. She had never felt anymore worse than now. Though she felt guilty, she continued to hide it and tell herself that it was Fox's fault first.

_I wish I knew how to fix this mess. I want to go back to where I was still in Star Fox, I want to be happy again, I want to be with Fox.._

She shook her head and erased the thought, it's his fault. He kicked her off the team. He did this to himself. There is no turning back. She would never forgive him and that's final. _I'm with Star Wolf now, and I'm with Panther who is better than Fox… Right?_ The black cat didn't really act like he cared for her recently and doubts that Panther had feelings for her were beginning to overwhelm her mind.

Her apartment wasn't big. There were two bedrooms one of which was occupied by her and the other one being empty. Both rooms were on either side of a hall which leads to the small living room and the kitchen. A little further down the hall was the bathroom and at the back of the living room stood the door to the rest of the world.

The blue vixen needed to clear her mind. She decided to go take a nice warm shower. She quickly got up from her bed and rushed into the bathroom, stripping off her clothing and leaving them on the floor. She'd pick them up afterwards.

The warm water drizzled all over her body, she could feel some of that sadness and guilt being washed away but it also washed away a part of her happiness and she wasn't sure why. After half an hour of just standing in the shower and allowing her mind to wander, she quickly dried herself off and wrapped the white towel around her body.

Krystal searched her dresser for her essentials and picked up a black bra and panties and slid them on beneath her towel. Now she needed to find some new clothes.

After a while she put on a pair of navy blue jeans and a black blouse. She looked around and searched for a jacket and quickly put it on. Just then did she realize that the jacket was the same one Fox had given her a month after staying with the team. The scent of the vulpine filled her nostrils and tears began to form in her eyes.

She quickly wiped the water from her eyes and ignored it. Trying her best to bottle up the emotions and headed out the door and nearly bumping into the children running past her apartment room.

"Sorry!" The little rabbit blurted out while continuing to chase his avian friend down the hall before disappearing behind the corner that lead to the stairs. The two kids looked no older than eight and seeing the innocence of children warmed her heart sometimes, allowing the weakest of smile to appear on her face.

"Oh sorry about that, those two rascals are hard to calm down." A female voice came from Krystal's left, causing her to turn and face an elderly old rabbit.

"It's not a problem." The blue vixen smiled and left the building. She wondered what she could do now. She_ couldn't_ continue to walk around and do nothing but think of the past. She looked up to see the sun had already began to settle on the horizon. It must be close to supper and she hadn't eaten anything since noon.

"I guess I'll just go get a drink or so.." She muttered to herself, ignoring her thought of food. She wasn't in the mood for it.

IIIII

The depressed vulpine had spent the last few hours wandering around the city and swimming inside his mind. He kept his head low to tried his best to avoid anyone from noticing his identity but he was caught by some people from time to time and had to go around signing some autographs. His fame is still around.

_But the fame is nothing compared to her..._ He rubbed his temple with his thumb and growled lowly, here he is again thinking about her but soon he could wash it all away with alcohol. The bar is only six more blocks away; it could clear away his thoughts, couldn't it?

Along the walk, his pants were tugged by the ankle and he stopped to look over an old homeless husky in ripped and ragged clothing. The stench was horrible but it couldn't be helped, the poor beggar seemed to have been homeless for years. His frame was weak, sitting cross legged by the side and his eyes were nearly empty of any positive emotions. Pity washed over the vulpine just looking at him.

"Can you spare some money for this homeless old timer, young one?" The beggar asked with an old and ragged voice. Without hesitation, Fox searched his pockets and handed a hundred credit bill to the old canine and nodded. His life may be going downhill but it doesn't mean he can't help others climb their mountain of life.

The husky looked at it wide-eyed and looked up to see the good hearted vulpine gone. For once, his eyes had a glint of hope in them.

Fox continued on, only about four more city blocks before he could sit down and drown himself in booze and other alcoholic beverages.

IIIII

The sapphire vixen had been walking for quite a while. She kept her gaze down at the patterned brick sidewalk in front of her, letting her mind to continue replaying past memories, _happy _memories. Those times she spent with her previous team, those times she spent with Fox.

She stopped in front of the puddle where it reflected the bar's sign, and sensed a familiar presence. She looked up and gasped. Fox was only a block away. Just like her, he kept his gaze down and walked, oblivious to the surroundings.

Without a second thought, she quickly made her way into the bar and sat down in a booth at the far corner of the pub where she can keep herself out of the vulpine's view.

IIIII

Fox slowly walked in and took a seat on one of the stools along the bar counter. The depressed vulpine waved for the bartender.

Krystal stood up a bit and looked over the booth wall and spotted the orange vulpine sitting there. She quickly sat back down and hid herself, afraid that he might notice her. She was nervous, her gaze stared down at the blank wooden surface of the table in front of her, thinking of what to do.

She was also curious and had let that part of her take over. She decided to enter the vulpine's mind. Then she mentally kicked herself, why does she care so much about him? She got over him, right? Why is she doing this? But even with all this going inside her head, she instinctively linked into his mind.

The thoughts from the vulpine made her eyes swell with tears. All his thoughts were about her. The thoughts were laced with regret, sadness and longing of being with her again. Still to this day, Fox had not changed his view of her and continued to blame himself of his decision. He still loved her. She was so caught up with the emotions from the vulpine that a tear slid down her right cheek.

She decided to keep the link to his mind. Using the connection to listen in to any conversation he might get into.

A moment later, an old black terrier in a beer stained apron came to take his order. Just as he got close, the old bartender squinted his eyes and adjusted the small pair of glasses he wore, and smiled when he realized who walked in.

"Well if it isn't Fox McCloud. It's been a while since you've visited my place." The terrier leaned with his left arm over the counter. "What can I get ya?"

The vulpine looked up and faked a smile at the owner of the bar. "Just whiskey is fine, Henry."

Henry nodded and grabbed a small glass mug, setting it in front of the vulpine and shoveling up some ice from the ice storage under the counter. He dumped the cold clear chunks of frozen water into the mug and grabbed a bottle of whiskey and poured the amber liquor into the glass. Just as the glass changed tint a slow song started playing on the radio and the vulpine smirked at the timing.

As soon as the transparent mug was filled to the top, the vulpine instantly grabbed it and started gulping down the alcoholic beverage without taking a rest. Within seconds, the glass was emptied and only the ice remained.

"Eh? Something's bothering you? You wouldn't be chugging it down unless you want to wash away something in your mind." The terrier raised an eye brow as the vulpine set the empty mug down.

"No." He gestured for a refill on his drink.

"I've known you long enough to know something's troubling you." The old bartender refilled the glass and placed it in front of the depressed fox again.

"You've only known me for five years…" The vulpine muttered before he brought the mug up to his face and paused to look at the amber liquid it contained.

"And that's not long enough?" The terrier allowed a smirk as Fox chugged the whiskey down.

"If I tell you, it would sound quite stupid of me." Fox mumbled through a breath after draining half the amount in the glass mug.

"Just say it and I can try to cheer you up." Henry is not backing down. With no choice, the vulpine let out a sigh of defeat and nodded and the terrier listened closely.

"You know I use to have a girl on my team, right?"

"Aye, you told me that before. You were in a relationship with her before right?" The vulpine only nodded.

"I made the worst decision of my life months ago." Fox gulped down the last of the amber beverage and shook his head as he felt dizzy.

"Which is?" The terrier asked as he poured himself a glass and refilled his friend's as well.

"I forced her off my team and she took it hard. She thought I was tossing her out like unwanted trash. I never wanted that, and now she's playing for the other team." He raised his right paw to chest level and curled it into a fist. "I only wanted to protect her. But instead, it destroyed her trust towards me and it's my fault. Her life is probably in shambles because of me. I've heard people talk bad about her, and I just can't stand it."

The vixen tried not to sob but it proved impossible as tears began to flow down her face. _Stop crying, why are you crying?! _She scolded herself and cursed under her breath. She continued to listen with guilt and regret as the conversation continued.

The vulpine's ears twitched as a familiar sensation surged through his body. He lowered the mug and looked down, closing his eyes. "She's here…"

The blue vixen bit her lips and again scolded herself for letting her emotions slip into that link. There's no point in hiding now but she stayed where she is.

"Aren't you gonna talk to her?" The terrier asked as he took a swig of his own whiskey.

"I can't confront her. I never could." The vulpine said, his voice barely above a whisper and shaky. "I'm afraid of hurting her again. I just can't…"

"It's probably your only chance. Let me give you an advice." The terrier offered as he took another sip.

"She's eavesdropping." The vulpine bluntly said as he rubbed his face with his left paw.

"I'm telling you anyway." The old terrier eased back and scratched under his chin. "Did you make your apology as sincere and as meaningful the last time you tried?"

The vixen cut off the link, a part of her wanted to accept his apology back then but it was stupid of her to reject it and she made it clear she will never forgive him. But all that had faded. She was willing to accept it this time. But she had wait for him to come to her.

The depressed vulpine noticed the link had been cut off. Not knowing her intentions of doing this but continued anyway. "No, I was chasing her over Fortuna and just begging, I didn't really tell her everything I wanted to say to her. I wish I could tell her more than just a simple sorry like I did when she left. I want to hug her tightly and kiss her again, I would die for her."

The old canine just nodded and waited for him to continue.

"I'd give up my fame, I'd give up my current career just for her right now. I saved her, I gave her a second life and she gave me a greater reason to live than the revenge I had on Andross." The surface of his beverage rippled as a tear dropped from his chin.

"Well, here's your chance."

"I don't have the courage anymore."

The vixen felt uncomfortable. She decided to get up and leave the bar, hoping the vulpine would follow her. As she walked towards the exit, Fox only let his sorrowful emerald eyes follow her out. Henry notices this and patted the vulpine on the shoulder.

"It's her isn't it?"

The orange fox didn't need to answer.

"You have to get her now or regret later. Once she is out, the chances are back to one in a million."

Somehow he managed to stand up but it was too late as the vixen left his vision past out the door. His feelings for her grew tenfold, not knowing if it's because of the alcohol or those ancient feelings just suddenly risen, he quickly turned to the terrier and nodded then left.

The bartender let out a smile as the young hero left the bar.

He got out and noticed that it was raining. It is blurring his vision and he panicked. _This is my only chance. _He let his eyes dart in every direction with determination replacing the sorrow he had. After scanning through the rain, he stopped to notice the vixen walking slowly down the street to his left.

He wasted no time and tried to catch up to her.

_This is it, it's one of those life changing risks that I've got to take, no matter what._

IIIII

**Author's Note: Aaaand that's the second chapter, hopefully it made sense and it didn't disappoint you! I'm quite bad when it comes to these kind of scenes but I'm willing to try and improve so I can write better in future stories!**

**Again, thank you Cpt. Fox for the tips and Beta reading! And thank you all who reviewed last chapter!**

**I do not own any Star Fox franchise/characters except OCs(Henry).**

**Oh, and if you're wondering what song could be playing, it's up to you to decide. But for me, it would be 'Say it ain't so' – Weezer. They're a nice band! Check them out!**


	3. Troubles above the Skies

**Author's Note: Chapter 3 is here! It took me two days to plan it out and another day to write it out and get it beta-read. Hopefully I didn't let you down on this chapter! As always, feedbacks, reviews anything is appreciated!**

**Thanks Cpt. Fox for beta reading and the rest of the people who reviewed!**

**I do not own any Star Fox franchise/characters, I do own the OCs that are here or will appear in the future! Enjoy!**

_**Chapter 3: Trouble above the Skies**_

The commanding officer rushed into the main control room of the orbiting platform above Corneria. The platform's alert system went off exactly two minutes ago and threatened the docked colonization ships.

"Situation? Report!" The officer demanded. He was a large bold eagle with a scar slashing vertically over his closed left eye, his other amber orb looked towards the two other crew members, their fingers rapidly tapping on controls.

"We have an unauthorized entry on dock T-9, sir!" The canine sitting on the right replied.

"Security squadron Green had been sent to investigate." The other, a raccoon added in.

The eagle stood behind the two and allowed his eyes to dart through each screen and absorb all the current information. They should had detected the infiltrators, yet they got in somehow. Just as he was about to direct an order, the platform shook violently and a loud explosion echoed throughout the station.

He quickly noted that the explosion happened outside and rushed towards one of the windows which provided a view of the whole platform. Just four docks to the right, he saw what happened. One of the not yet commissioned colonizing ships had been severed from its dock and had begun drifting away, its airlock sparked with flames and smoke.

"Send an emergency call for assistance to the General, _now_!" His last word was shouted out, showing how serious the situation is at the moment, the two wasted no time and their fingers danced like a blur on the keys.

Within seconds, the message was sent and the officer wasted no time and demanded the report on the current situation.

"Green squadron not responding! Blue squadron, heavy casualties !" The right crew member reported.

Just then, they heard blaster fires behind the control room and a few yelps and painful cries, indicating that the invaders have reached them. The eagle turned and reached for his side arm swiftly and pointed at the blast door. He could tell he was outnumbered but he didn't plan on going down without a fight.

Just as the door was about to open, the officer felt a cold metallic object press against his neck. He turned his head to find the canine pointing his blaster at him, grinning. The raccoon laid unconscious but there were no indication of any blast marks on her body. The traitor dog must have knocked her out.

"Drop your gun, _sir_."

The eagle had no choice and dropped his gun, it reached the cold metal floor with a clunk as the blast door to the control room opened and the infiltrators came rushing in. The last one calmly walked towards the captured officer and let an evil smirk appear on his reptilian face.

The eagle just glared at him. The reptilian leader stopped only a few inches away and began to speak.

"Well now, commander, I never knew it was this easy to capture such an important Cornerian project. I was expecting some more security."

"What do you want?" The eagle asked.

"Oh, you wouldn't need to know." With that, the reptile knocked the officer out cold with his rifle and ordered two of his men to throw both the avian commander and the raccoon into the brig along with the rest of the surviving crew.

He then proceeded to activate the holographic communicator and the head of a dark feline appeared, masked by the heavy distortion given from the signal.

"Well?" The feline asked expectantly.

"It is going according to plan, sir." The reptilian leader replied.

"Good.." The black cat let out with a dark and satisfying tone. "Prepare for the next phase of the plan."

The lizard nodded and cut the com out. He then proceeded to give orders to his subordinates and eased a bit. He looked out the window within the control room and stared in awe as rogue star fighters started to gather at the captured platform.

IIIII

"Krystal!" The orange vulpine called out, his voice was half covered by the drizzling sound of rain bombarding the sidewalk. He growled in annoyance and picked up speed as he ran through the rain.

Krystal stopped as she heard the unmistakable splash of someone running behind her. As she stood still, the splashing lessened and slowed down. Soon the sound of the splashes ended just a foot or two behind her. She could hear the vulpine's panting, and feel his warmth.

"Krystal…" Fox started, but the vixen stood away, not able to turn and face him.

She looked down, thankful her tears were masked by the rainfall that pelted her whole face and body, her back still facing him. His breathing softened and a few seconds later he managed to continue.

"I-I want to-"

"I know.." She interrupted, managing to turned and face him. Her watery green eyes stared into his and her heart started to beat rapidly. At first, she didn't know how to put her words together to make sense. "I know, Fox.."

They allowed a moment of silence past between them, both of them wanting to tell the other how they felt since the day they separated, how much they needed each other. They want to release all their bottled emotions right there where they're standing.

A second later, the two broke their eye contact and looked down. She had to tell him now.

"Fox, I-"

She was interrupted by the loud beeping coming from Fox's com on his wrist, the vulpine holding her gaze a few more seconds but ultimately realizing he'd have to answer the call before the moment could continue. He reluctantly turned around and answered the call, tapping onto the answer key and seeing Peppy's head pop up.

"Fox! There's been a hijacking on an orbiting platform, a very important one too. I need you to provide support for Team Falco. I know you're in a terrible mood right now, but this is urgent and it will threaten Lylat severely if it's not resolved."

"I'll be there, Peppy." He replied, killing the signal and turning back to face Krystal. He was so close to apologizing to her and then someone decided to ruin it by capturing a space station up in space. He let out a low growl of frustration and regret before looking back up into her green orbs.

"Krystal, please stay until I come back." He stared into her eyes, hoping she would listen to him.

Krystal nodded knowingly that it was important, her green orbs were filled with worry. "Please come back safely.." Her trembling voice sounded as if she was begging. She wanted to stop him but when she saw how tense the vulpine was after the call, she must let him go.

"I will." He reassured.

Both of them had so much to say to each other but it seemed as if the universe was preventing them from being together. Just when they were about to mend their bonds, something happens and interrupts them. The two stood there for a few more seconds before Fox nodded and ran the other way, heading to the space port where he left his Arwing and leaving the blue vixen standing in the light under the street lamp alone.

Krystal continued to stand there and watch as the orange vulpine's figure ran further until he disappeared. A part of her wants to run after him but that would not be the best idea at the moment. She couldn't just stay at the apartment and hope he will be fine, she had to be sure he makes it through. Her paws tightened into fists as she did an about-turn and quickly walked the direction of her apartment.

IIIII

Just as he reached the bridge to the space port, he held his wrist up and reconnected the signal to the General's office. A fraction of a second later, Peppy's head reappeared over his wrist.

"Peppy, can you give me a brief summary of what's going on?" The vulpine asked.

"Sure, sure. You will need the information anyway."

Fox nodded and waited for Peppy to continue.

"Just about an hour ago, we received an urgent message for help from the orbital platform _Columbus_. The platform is the main station where we were constructing massive long distance colonization ships dubbed the _Pioneer _class. These ships, however, weren't to be commissioned for another month now." The old hare sighed in frustration and continued.

"Colonization ships?" The vulpine never really knew that Corneria was undergoing such projects.

"Yes, they were going to be used to colonize habitable planets outside Lylat. But now, they are under threat from these terrorists. Star Falco will be infiltrating into the station and you will be outside defending the platform until Falco and his team had retaken the platform."

"Wait, why am I staying outside?"

"Because, Fox. We are certain that the majority of the enemy forces are occupying the station at this very moment, so there will be less resistance in space. Star Falco is a full team and has the strength to retake the station."

Fox took a moment to evaluate the situation before coming to the decision. He sighed in defeat and nodded and saluted to the head of his former mentor. "Yes sir."

"Be careful Fox." Peppy warned, still concerned for the vulpine's safety even after all these years.

"Don't worry, old timer." Fox reassured and smiled at the aged hare before turning off his com and running across the bridge.

It took him at least half an hour to reach his hangar. He quickly slid the access card down the lock and the doors opened. He wasted no time and dashed towards the blue fighter, quickly opening the canopy and jumping into the comfy cockpit he is most use to.

Just as he was about to start up the craft, he noticed his attire and let out a frustrated growl. He was still wearing his casual outfit and he had no time to return to the Great Fox and get into his proper gear for combat piloting. He would have to go with this for this mission.

The vulpine swiftly tapped in commands and controls, adjusting the systems and firing up the engine before double checking everything just to make sure. Soon enough, he raised the fighter up, hovered for a moment so that the hangar doors are completely opened, revealing the downpour outside and the darkness the clouds above gave.

In an instant, he jammed his controls forward and the Arwing shot out of the hangar in a blue blur. The fighter quickly ascended and shot through the storming clouds, revealing the clear dark blue sky littered with stars.

Soon, the tip of the craft glowed red as he exit the planet's atmosphere and returned to the endless void of space. He wasted no time and tapped in a few keys, searching which direction is the Columbus Space Station was in. As soon as he was done tapping out the information and pressed down the 'enter' key, the interface of the fighter's computer reacted instantly and gave out the platform's coordinates.

"53 degrees west of my location.." The vulpine growled, the orbiting platform is halfway across the planet from his current location. He turned the fighter towards the direction of the station and accelerated at top speed.

IIIII

Krystal felt uneasy, she couldn't stop worrying about the orange vulpine. Just over an hour ago, they had been standing in the rain, ready to accept each other's apology and rebuild their relationship. But then a problem appears and from the looks of it, it was a big one.

Since he left, she felt a part of her chest ache a bit and fade away, as if something was warning her that earlier might have been the last time she would ever see Fox again. _No, he will be fine, he said so… _Even as she tried to tell herself she need not to worry, her emotions got the better of her.

The possibility of losing him for real this time made her pace quicken. She walked past her apartment but continued on, reaching a half ruined district of the city called Genardico before entering a halfway destroyed dome.

A minute of walking past empty unused rooms and turning a few corners, she entered a larger chamber. Sat in the middle was her Wolfen, instead of the usual red color scheme, hers was light lavender outlining the wings and side of the nose of the fighter. On one side was printed the symbol of Star Wolf and the other held Cerinian symbols.

She hesitated for a moment, it was the first time in a month that she'd ever came back to check on the fighter and it was still there. She also felt uncomfortable for the first time in an year about piloting the craft. But she shook those thoughts away and rushed towards the Wolfen.

The blue vixen tapped into the controls, powering up the fighter and preparing to launch. She couldn't stand the thought of Fox dying in this mission, so she would be there for him just in case. Not a second later, the customized Wolfen bolted out of its hiding place and left a trail of purple from its engine.

IIIII

It only took him ten minutes but those ten minutes seemed like an eternity. The orange vulpine had just reached the station and realized the battle had already started. Sparks of explosion covered the space above the platform and Fox could make out Star Falco's fighters.

The Sky Claw dove down and did a vertical barrel row, evading incoming lasers and firing a burst of its own, hitting the enemy ship's left wing and tearing it off and sending the poor craft spinning uncontrollably before crashing into the platform.

In another part of the tense space battle, Fox spotted a pink-violet interceptor-class Arwing being chased by three enemy ships, the chase led the four under a docked colonization ship and around the central control tower of the platform, the three chasers were spraying red blasts everywhere, not minding the damage they caused to the large docked vessel and the station itself.

Not a moment later, two of the fighters chasing the pink Arwing were peppered by a volley of lasers coming from their top left, forcing the survivor to give up the chase and bank right, fleeing from the savior.

The ship that came to the rescue was an unknown ship. It had the colors of an Arwing but he had never seen such a variable. Its wings were all the way back and the tips pointed forward, the hull of the fighter was wide and on one side pictured a monkey riding what seems to be a flaming arrow. The color scheme was the same as a typical Arwing, blue and silver.

Fox wasted no time and assisted the three struggling fighters. He jammed his control sticks forward and tilted them to the right, dodging incoming lasers and targeting the closest enemy ship. Not a moment later, he got a lock on the ship and instantly jabbed his thumbs onto the red firing button on the control sticks. Green streaks of laser shot out from the side of his cockpit and struck the enemy fighter perfectly. He could see the cockpit of his foe burst into orange flames before the explosion engulfed the whole fighter. A mere few seconds later, all that remained were pieces of the destroyed craft.

Fox didn't stop there, he quickly spotted another enemy fighter on the tail of the Sky Claw and immediately went to assist his friend. He arched up and reached the back of the chaser, firing a rapid volley of green until the ship in front lit up into a fireball. He banked to the left and barely dodged the explosion and saw the Sky Claw in front of his Arwing.

"It's about time you showed up!" Falco yelled into the com. "We've been fighting here for a full twenty minutes!"

The vulpine chuckled. "Well, I'm here now, I'll cover your team while you infiltrate the station."

"Loud and clear. But damn it, why can't we just handle these pricks flying around and let the military handle the bastards inside?"

"I don't know, ask Peppy after this." With that, Fox cut the signal and wasted no time searching for a new target.

Just a moment later, his radar alerted him that there were two bogeys chasing him from behind. He shot his Arwing up and pulled back into a loop, letting out a triumphant laugh as he successfully fooled the two enemy ships and enjoying the thrill of the G force on his body from the stunt he did.

As soon as he had a lock on the two fighters, he charged his ship blasters and released them. The bolt of bright red shot at the ship to the left with lightning speed, engulfing the ship before the other was damaged from the explosion and soon lost control and crashed into the platform.

He looked down and saw all three ships of Falco's team beginning to dock. But he couldn't feel relieved just yet and he focused his attention back on the enemy fighters still flying around and shooting at him. The computer on his Arwing showed the estimated number of enemy ships left.

"Sixteen more ships huh?" He said aloud and sighed in frustration. "Great."

IIIII

The Sky Claw docked itself into a empty hangar, Falco quickly unstrapped himself and opened up the canopy as the other two ships docked with him. He jumped off and waited for the others to exit their ships.

As soon as its engine died down the Arwing's canopy opened and out came a pink feline in a gray and black flight suit, her tail adjusted itself to balance her as she jumped and landed onto the hangar's floor.

"So, tell me how are we gonna do this?" The cat asked with an annoyed look on her face.

"Well, since we were fighting outside, they ought to have figured that we would be attempting to infiltrate the base. Soon, guards will start popping out." Falco answered, looking around and readying his blaster.

The last ship finally docked and out came a small primate with white hair. The three of them gathered near the Sky Claw and started forming a plan.

"Dash." Falco turned to look at the small ape. "I need you to take the eastern hallway and get to the armory and secure it."

Dash nodded and turned the safety off on his rifle. Falco then turned to the pink feline and looked at her from top to bottom and back up again, smirking. Katt noticed this and glared at him.

"Are ya gonna just stand there and examine me all day?" She growled at him and the avian snapped out of it.

"I will after the mission." He joked and not a second later his expression turned serious again. "Katt, you will take the north hallway and free the hostages, then you will lead them to the armory and arm them, leave the rest to me." He spoke out the last part with a confident tone, showing off his never changing big ego.

"Right.." Katt rolled her eyes and left, removing her blaster from its holster and strolling to the northern hall. Falco couldn't stop staring at the feline's perfect backside as she walked off. Dash went to the East. Falco watched his team split up and disappear and then left for the remaining hallway to the west.

Just as he reached the first corner and looked around, two shots whizzed over his head, he ducked and rolled back behind the cover and listened. The feather on his head were a bit burnt and he grimaced. His perfect feathers that he had fixed before the mission were now scorched and messed up.

He began to hear footsteps coming closer cautiously. One step at a time, not speeding up or slowing it's pace. Falco waited for the right chance to surprise his enemy. Seconds had past and when the opportunity came, the avian jumped out and fired his blaster and his adversary dropped to the ground, smoke coming up from the wound.

He checked quickly and confirmed that his foe was dead and smirked. He quickly left the limp body and headed further into the station, prepared for anyone else who would challenge him.

IIIII

**Author's Note: Just because of the genre I choose doesn't mean there won't be any action! And damn it you lousy hijackers! You guys ruined Fox and Krystal's moment! But let's see what will happen in the next chapter! I hope this chapter is just as good as the rest that had been posted**

**And again, credit to Cpt. Fox for Beta Reading the chapter and others for reviewing!**

**Please post a feedback, I really appreciate it!**


	4. Effort in Vain

**Author's Note: Here's the fourth chapter! I had a lot of fun writing this one. I simply made it into a movie inside my head as I wrote this! This chapter is focused fully on the action! Hope my action dialogue is keeping you guys detailed and interesting at the same time!**

**Once again, thank you Cpt. Fox for beta-reading and all of you who reviewed! I appreciate the reviews so don't stop posting them! It somewhat motivates me to continue!**

**I own none of the Star Fox franchise/characters but the OCs that are present or will appear in the future!**

_**Chapter 4: Effort In Vain**_

The view of the planet Corneria up close is magnificent to behold. Like a rotating painting, it turned in a slow and steady pace as the night side of the planet slowly turned to greet Solar. The rays of the star appeared from the side of the planet, a magnificent view from space indeed. But soon, the still atmosphere was disturbed as a red spot came into view.

The lavender Wolfen's nose glowed a bright orange as it withstood the heat the atmosphere lashed out. Within seconds, the fighter broke through and entered the dark void. The vixen pilot searched desperately in her craft's cockpit, her green eyes darting from one area in space to another. She needed to find him and fast.

Soon, her eyes fixed themselves on a silver speck that reflected a bit of Solar's rays, letting out a small twinkle. Curious, she flew closer to the silver dot. As the dot grew and started to take shape, she realized what it was.

_The Great Fox!_

The blue vixen wasted no time and accelerated her Wolfen until the Cruiser appeared to be the size of a toy that could be fit into her hand to her view. She stopped her fighter and quickly noticed the guns on the Great Fox adjusted itself automatically and pointed at her.

She quickly tried to set a connection to the Cruiser and typed in the authorization codes and crossed her fingers, hoping the codes still worked after all these months. She bit her lips as she waited for the ship to respond to her codes. The vixen looked out her canopy and watched as the guns continued to move about but their direction still pointed to her.

_Please work, please! _She could feel the first droplets of sweat form on her forehead and quickly reached up with a wrist to wipe them away. Another moment later, a beep was heard on her fighter's com and she tapped to answer it.

The hologram popped up and the figure of Rob appeared before her.

"Authorization codes valid. Welcome, Krystal." The robot spoke out before his holographic form dispersed and the com link was automatically shut.

She let out a sigh of relief and guided her craft into the hangar. The back gates opened, revealing the semi-transparent and passive barrier that sealed the ship's atmosphere in the hangar. The vixen slowly entered it and landed her Wolfen on spot.

Wasting not a moment, she opened her canopy and the good old scent of the ship invaded her cockpit. Nostalgic as it was, she had no time to sit there and replay old memories in her head. She quickly jumped out and ran for the hallway, passing the sleeping quarters and the rec room before entering the bridge to see Rob handling the controls.

"Rob! Where did Fox go?" The blue vixen asked as she walked up beside the service bot.

Rob didn't give her an answer. Instead, he continuing to tap in keys and other buttons until the middle of the bridge flashed green and a holographic version of the planet they're orbiting appeared. A green dot appeared on the edge of the dark side of the planet, indicating where the Great Fox was currently at while a blue blink appeared on the other side of Corneria.

"He is currently at Space Platform Columbus at West Fifty-four point six." The service bot stated with his robot voice and turned to face Krystal.

She continued to stare at the hologram for a bit with calculating eyes, crossing her arms on her chest and slightly leaning her weight on her left leg. She growled, frustrated and worried. Fox could be fighting in vain right now and she's half way across the planet.

"Rob, can you get us to the station?" The sapphire vixen asked and the robot immediately started dancing his fingers onto the controls before turning back to answer.

"Affirmative, estimated time: half an hour due to damages in engines two and three. Engine one and four operational."

That did not help at all. Two out of four of the engines are down. They are probably damaged due to poor maintenance. Krystal paced back and forth for a quick moment, her tail swishing around nervously and her ears twitched.

"Get us there as fast as possible, Rob." She finally ordered.

"Roger."

IIIII

The Arwing did a barrel row to the right and deflected would-be fatal shots, before banking left and returning fire to the attacker. The green bolts of laser punched through the hull and came out the other end, one of them hitting the cockpit. The enemy craft burst into flames and sparks just a second after the laser's impact.

Fox panted as he watched the explosion fade away, he had shot down seven of the sixteen rogue ships but they seem to get harder and harder to shoot down as they were destroyed one by one. He never felt so tired before when it came to space combat, these enemies were veterans. He quickly jammed his controls to the right, his craft slanted and glided sideways, dodging twin red blasts. The blasts singed the edge of the Arwing's left wing.

"Damn it!" Fox growled, he let his guard down. He couldn't hold on much longer. He'd have to either take them all at once or request someone from Star Falco for assistance.

_Wait… What about the military?! _As soon as the thought entered his mind, he quickly tapped into the military frequency in the com. In an instant, Peppy's head popped up as a hologram. The Hare quickly recognized who called him.

"Fox!" The aged general blurted out, oblivious to the current situation due to the limited view of the hologram.

"Peppy, I could use a little help here! When can the military come and assist?!" Fox banked his fighter to the left as he spoke and dodged incoming lasers from the front.

"They're coming! ETA: Twenty! Hold on there, Fox!" Peppy could tell that the vulpine was struggling to keep from getting shot down, his face is now of seriousness and concern.

"Hours or minutes?! You left that out!" The orange pilot shouted as he did a loop and shot bolts of laser at another enemy fighter and ultimately destroyed his foe.

"Minutes! My goodness, how could you think of hours?!" The hare answered with a hint of frustration in his voice.

"I don't know." The vulpine managed to say before his fighter jolted forward and he accidently bumped his head to the front of the canopy. He looked behind him and spotted the one responsible.

The chaser wasted no time and continued to rapidly fire its red streaks at the Arwing, scoring a few hits and slowly deteriorating the shield.

"Fox!" The hare was extremely worried.

"Don't worry, old timer. I got this. I'll contact you again later." With that, the vulpine cut the channel out and focused his attention on his chaser.

The enemy fired again but this time, Fox was ready and without a second's delay, he easily dodged all the shots and reversed his ship's thrusters, slowing his Arwing down and watching as the chaser took the bait and zoomed past him.

He grinned to himself and let out a volley of green blasts at his adversary's tail, connecting with the fighter's engines and watching them blow up and engulf the craft whole in orange. He eased a bit for a moment before snapping back to alertness as the remaining fighters gathered together and charged at him.

The vulpine let out a smirk and did the same. He jammed the controls of the engines and thrust the blue fighter forward at a fast pace. He looked at the calculated distance between him and his targets.

Ten kilometers, he flicked open a small hatch on his right control stick, revealing a black button with a symbol of a bomb. He had to focus in order for this to be successful. If he did it too late, he will be engulfed by the explosion. If he did it too early, his attack would miss and he'd have to go back to dog fights.

Seven kilometers. The vulpine's thumb rested on the button. His heart started to pound faster as he prepared the last of the countdown. He could feel the adrenaline rushing through his body and all of his fur stood on end.

Five kilometers. The Arwing's engines are at its max output. Within the next few seconds, he'd release his final attack on his enemies, sweat poured down and soaked his clothes. This was it.

One. He quickly pressed the firing mechanism for the Smart Bomb and pulled both control sticks back as hard as he could. His Arwing arched up at a ninety degree angle, keeping at max speed and shooting out of the explosion radius. Fox looked back and watch as the bomb reached the formation of the remaining enemy fighters.

It exploded half a second later. A white flash covered the vulpine's vision and he turned away, shutting his eyes and held onto the controls as if his life depended on it. His fighter shook violently from the vibrations sent from the Smart Bomb he released but seconds later it ended just as soon as it started.

The vulpine checked his scanners and let a triumphant grin stretch across his face. It was a success. He looked back only to see the empty void of space behind him. All of the fighters were disintegrated by the explosion, leaving nothing at all.

He relaxed and leaned back against his seat. Letting out a sigh as his fighter continued to fly around the Columbus.

IIIII

Falco ran past a crossway of halls as blaster fire reigned all over the place. He wasted no time to return fire and heard the grunt from one of his pursuers, that was what he wanted to hear. He stopped and turned around and instantly pulled the trigger of his blaster, firing a burst of three.

The last gunner yelped as the three shots impacted on his left torso, left thigh and right shoulder, burning through his combat vest, fur and finally his skin. He dropped to his knees and let out his last breath before landing face down on the floor, dead.

The smell of burnt flesh is fresh and Falco grimaced at it. He quickly continued down the hall, holding up his right wrist and tapping in a few keys until a map of the station's interior displayed itself in front of him.

He was apparently two halls away from the main control deck. He studied the route for another moment and then tapped the key to cancel the map and rushed his way to his target destination.

As he entered the first of the two halls, the entire station suddenly shook violently and nearly sent the avian tumbling. He barely balanced himself and used the wall for support. No doubt his vulpine friend used a Smart Bomb, no other weapons could send such vibrations through space unless they're more powerful or as powerful as a Smart Bomb.

He wasted no time and sprinted past the two halls and reached the control room. He stood against the blast door for a moment, and pressed the side of his head against it, hoping to hear any activities behind the heavy door. Nothing.

He stepped back and looked around, there were blaster scorch marks on the walls and painted with blood, the floor was littered with bodies both Cornerian and pirates. He turned back to the blast door and pulled up the console that would open it. He entered the code that was given to him by Peppy and the door slowly slid away.

He pointed his weapon through the widening slit until the whole door was completely out of the way. He wasted no time and darted inside and took cover behind one of the control panels. Nothing happened. No blaster shots fired, no barks or other sounds. Complete silence.

The avian got onto his feet and looked around. The control room was empty, the only sound was the beeping from the coms section of all the stations inside the room. He walked towards it and noticed the security camera screens displayed beside the com station and his eyes widened.

On one of the many screens was a hangar labeled T-9, the avian noticed all the figures getting into their respective fighters and taking off one by one. This didn't look good at all.

"Oh no." Falco spoke out. He wasted no time and tapped in on the com, trying to get to his friend who was still out in space flying.

Soon enough, the vulpine came up on screen with a confused look on his face.

"Fox! They're coming out! Watch for enemy fighters!"

"Got it, get everyone off the station and quick! I have a bad feeling that they have something in store inside the place." The vulpine voiced out before he jolted forward. Fox looked behind him and forced the controls to the left before the signal cut.

"McCloud!" Falco shouted as the screen on the monitor stopped working. He punched the panel in rage and quickly left to meet up with Katt and Dash.

IIIII

The pink feline cautiously inched herself towards the door which lead to the brig. She held her blaster up and fixed her eyes on the door, scanning the area for any movement. She continued to slowly walk forward and hugging the wall until she reached it.

Katt did not come across any of the hijackers as she made her way to the brig, and it didn't feel right. There should have been guards standing and keeping an eye on their prisoners. Where was everyone?

With a deep breath, she accessed the control to the door and it slid open.

More than fifty heads turned to face the new arrival. Katt couldn't see well through the darkness but soon her night vision took place and she slowly made out who they were. Sitting and huddled up in groups were the station's workers. Their eyes stared her down with distrust and hostility.

"I'm not one of them, I'm Katt Monroe of Star Falco." She explained and the hostages' eased their gaze in relief.

"I'm Commander Talon." One of the hostages spoke out, he was a fit eagle with ice blue eyes. The avian officer stood up, his hands are bound behind him. "Did you take care of the hijackers?"

The pink feline shook her head. "No, there's no one. Not that I'm sure about the rest of my team."

"This doesn't sound good. Quickly, free us and let's get out of here!" The command walked up to the feline and turned and lifted his bound hands as high as he could from the back. Katt unsheathed a combat knife from her left thigh and easily cut through the bind.

Another ten minutes or so, all of the prisoners were freed and the commander continued to discuss a plan of escape.

"There should be some shuttles scattered throughout all the hangars. We might also need some weapons in case there were some hostiles still inside here." The eagle scratched under his beak as he planned.

The pink feline nodded. "My teammate is securing the armory. We should be able to grab some stuff there."

"Alright, let's move! Once we're armed, we will need to split up and find the shuttles, board them and leave the platform ASAP!" The commander barked at the crewmen.

"There was a shuttle near where we left our fighters, Commander." Katt informed. "I think you should board that one with us."

The avian commander nodded and signaled everyone to move out. Soon, everyone left the brig and headed towards the armory.

Not long later, the eagle raised his hand and everyone stopped advancing through the hall. They listened as faint footsteps were heard down the far corner. Katt readied her blaster and focused fully on the source of the pacing sound.

The footsteps grew louder but then Katt caught the scent of the arriving figure and grinned. She lowered her weapon and charged forward. Just as expected, a familiar blue avian emerged around the far corner and was struck down by the charging pink feline.

The feline playfully smiled at the stunned pheasant before she rolled off of Falco, leaving the blue avian laying there with a surprised look.

"Katt! What the hell!" Falco yelled. But despite the glar he gave her the pink feline laughed.

Soon all the crew men caught up to the two and they continued to the armory. The blue avian ignored Katt as seconds passed by. Letting out a sigh, she picked up her pace to match Falco's and looked at him but the blue avian stared straight ahead and avoided eye contact with her.

"Oh come on! It was a comeback for looking over me earlier." The feline reasoned but Falco didn't respond at all. Instead, he steadily picked up his pace and left the Katt behind.

She let out a sigh before catching up to him and gave in. "Fine! I'm sorry.."

That caught his attention and smirked at her. "Amazing, you finally said sorry for the first time in weeks." He laughed but was cut off when Katt punched him in the shoulder.

Not long later, they reached the armory. Dash was outside waving to them as the group rushed in and armed themselves. The commander picked up a rifle and waited for the others to stock up on ammunition and supplies.

"Are we ready to move?" The eagle asked. In response, most of them nodded without saying anything. Some replied with a 'Yes sir!' To that, the commander walked to the armory door and signaled everyone to follow him. "Let's move!"

IIIII

Fox spun wildly, avoiding heavy fire from five enemies giving chase. He quickly maneuvered his craft and made a sharp U turn, holding down the firing mechanism. Green built up at the nose of the Arwing and slowly turned red until the vulpine released the buttons. The red burst shot forward and took out three out of five.

The remaining two quickly fled and flew low close to the platform. Fox watched as they disappeared behind one of the docked colonization ships but quickly looked around for any certain ambush coming for him.

He then spotted one of the rogue crafts as it lazily flew and hid behind a piece of space wreckage. To his annoyance, the vulpine guided his Arwing towards the enemy's hiding spot only to be ambushed from the top.

Four shots were fired from above, two of them hit. One dented the top of the Arwing's nose and the pressure bent the metal in and trapped one of the vulpine's leg. Fox let out a growl as pain stung his left leg. The other shot scorched his right G-diffuser engine, rendering it useless.

"Take that! Fox McCloud!" Hissed the ambusher, a lizard in ragged piloting gear.

"Who are you?!" The injured vulpine demanded as he did a barrel roll to avoid another volley of red.

"Your worst nightmare." The reptile cackled and his fighter zipped vertically past the damaged Arwing, allowing the fox to see what type of craft he was up against.

The enemy was piloting a modified Venomian interceptor, the engines were much slimmer and the wings curved back and held two extra armed blasters. A sickly green outlined the front and backside as the rest was black. If it wanted to hide he wanted to hide and wait for the perfect ambush, he could just fly far away until the moment comes.

The enemy fighter made a vertical U turn and fired a flurry of shots upward, aiming for the underside of Fox's Arwing.

"Feel the fury of the _Night Claw_!" The reptilian pilot hissed out as he continued to pepper his victim from underneath. The vibrations of hits sent the vulpine crashing everywhere in his cockpit, bits of the controls flew out and some of the sharp edges sliced at him.

A piece of the panel the size of Fox's paw flew and jabbed into the vulpine's left arm, digging into his flesh and letting the blood spill out. His head made one last impact against the broken panel and left a gash above his left brow. He panted heavily as he held the wounded left arm with his good one.

"Fox! No!" Falco's voice shot out of the com, he looked down at the station to see the team staring up through a window.

"I'd love to keep on toying you but I must be leaving now.." The lizard informed with a sinister tone before he flew away. Where he flew at suddenly glowed green and everyone stared at it gaping.

Out of the blackness ripped a green hole and out came what appears to be parts of both Venomian and Cornerian ships mashed together. The new arrival did not look friendly as it readied its main gun at the station.

"Oh no.." Fox let out a whisper as the cruiser's gun charged.

"Mission failed, O' great _heroes _of Lylat!" The reptile hollered as he held up a trigger mechanism. The vulpine then realized what's going to happen and he quickly switched com to warn the people inside the station.

"Falco! Get out _now!_"

The lizard let out an evil grin and pushed the trigger button.

Each hangar started exploding one by one, some of the colonization ships ripped away and blew up, others were engulfed by the dock explosions. Fox started to feel dizzy as he realized he didn't put any pressure on any of his wounds, allowing blood to flow out of his body freely.

His vision started to blur but using the last of his strength, he looked down at the dock that Star Falco landed in. Out of the explosion came four ships. The vulpine let out a weak sigh of relief before his blurry vision turned to black.

"Fox!" The vulpine heard his avian friend call through the com. But at this point he was mere seconds away from unconsciousness.

"I got him." Came a familiar female voice and a sudden light vibration. He took one last ditch effort to open his eyes and saw a lavender craft towing his Arwing back to a familiar cruiser ship.

He let her name slip from his mouth out with the last breath he could manage before slipping into darkness.

"_Krystal…"_

IIIII

**Author's Note: Aaaand there's that! This chapter was well over 3700 words! My chapters are slowly growing bigger. Anyway, I hope this chapter didn't disappoint you! I was actually going to extend this and make this event two chapters, but I decided to cut it short cause I'm lazy that way. :P**

**Again, I thank Cpt. Fox for Beta-Reading and the rest of you who reviewed! I've never expected to get so much positive feedbacks since chapter one! I love you all! xD**

**Also, I'm planning on the next story, it would revolve around Bill Grey and Fay Spaniel. Romance. The reason I decided on planning another story that talks about those two is because I can't get the feeling of the two hounds would make a damn good love story lol. Anyway, that story won't come out until later on, maybe when this story is either in its teen chapters or near the end of it.**

**Once more, I encourage everyone to review my story! Point out the bad and I'll try my best not to repeat the same mistakes!**


	5. Not Going To Lose Him

**Author's Note: Hey! Here's the next chapter. I gotta warn you, this one is the aftermath of the previous event so it may get quite boring. I'm currently happy because my story had reached over a thousand views and over 30 reviews! :D Thanks everyone!**

**Once again, thanks Cpt. Fox for Beta'ing and others for your reviews!**

**I do not own any of the Star Fox franchise/characters, I only own the OCs that appeared or will appear in the future!**

**Hope you enjoy this chapter! Read and review, I appreciate any feedbacks!**

_**Chapter 5: Not Going to Lose Him**_

"Get into that shuttle! Hurry!" The commander shouted. Only a handful were left after they had split up to get to the other shuttles.

Falco, Katt and Dash quickly got to their fighters and quickly started them up, waiting for the shuttle to complete the boarding process and start their engines. All the while Falco couldn't help but worry what his vulpine friend may be caught in.

He was soon jerked out of his thoughts though when he heard Fox shout out from the com.

"_Get out of there, now!"_

He heard muffled explosions getting closer immediately after the vulpine had shot out the warning. He wasted no time and fired his engines to the max, relieved to see the other three ships with him did the same. They wasted no time and shot out of the hangar a mere second before its inside was engulfed in orange.

As soon as he got out, he looked back and saw what was happening. Each dock and hangar had been detonated by the enemy. They had probably set this up long before Star Falco and Fox had gotten here. He scanned each destroyed hangar, seeing no ships flying out any of them and assuming the worst for those who had still been in them.

He quickly looked back up in shock as he saw the crumpled fighter which was Fox's Arwing being peppered from the bottom by a mysterious venomian craft. As soon as the enemy fighter stopped, it bumped the crippled Arwing and it directed it towards the unknown cruiser's line of fire.

"Fox! " Falco yelled, jamming his controls forward, hoping to catch his friend before the cruiser's fire did.

Fortunately he was outpaced by another mysterious fighter. But he quickly recognized the four winged craft as it came before him. A Wolfen? At such a time like this? Then he noticed the strange color scheme on the fighter. It was lavender with strange familiar symbols etched into its side.

He soon saw the Wolfen shoot out a hook, towing the crippled Arwing away from the line of fire, hearing a familiar female voice from the com.

"I got him."

"K-Krystal?!" Falco's jaw dropped a bit and he continued to hover while watching the Wolfen flew past him followed by his vulpine friend's wrecked fighter.

He looked back and gasped. The lavender fighter flew behind the unforgettable form of the Great Fox which was only half a kilometer away. He took another few seconds to just stare at that the approaching cruiser with surprise.

But he was soon forced to jerk his attention back to the front as he watched a giant red streak shoot out from the enemy cruiser's main gun. It pierced through the platform and moved up, ripping the station and some of the colonization ships in half as they drifted into the powerful beam's path.

They all watched in horror as the orbital platform split in two, explosions going off here and there like fireworks. They soon heard the maniacal laugh of the terrorists' leader as his fighter disappeared behind the enemy ship.

But the Cornerian-Venomian cruiser was not out of the fight yet as lasers started to chase the enemy ship as it was turning away from the planet. Falco looked to his left and spotted the Cornerian fleet approaching. They were too late to save the platform but at least they could still try and take down the escaping enemy cruiser.

"That ship! It's so familiar." Dash's voice came out from the com. The avian spotted his simian teammate flying towards the enemy ship.

"Dash! What're you doing?! Come back here!" Falco shouted. He had already come close to losing his closest friend just a moment ago and he wasn't about to lose one of his current wingmates.

Dash's fighter soon caught up with the enemy ship as a green hole appeared as if the darkness of space had been ripped open. Falco could see his wingmate's craft turning around to escape the pulling force made from the hole but ultimately failed. It, along with the giant hybrid cruiser entered the warp gate and disappeared.

"No!" Falco slammed his fist into the controls panel in front of him in anger.

"There's no time to mourn, birdie! We gotta check up on Fox!" Katt's voice pierced through his anger, causing the avian to quickly avert his attention to the Great Fox.

"Fine, let's go!"

With that, the two remaining members of Star Falco flew straight for the Great Fox. Falco quickly entered the authorization codes and got a green light to land, allowing the two of them boarded the cruiser without a problem.

Falco quickly opened his canopy and noticed the same lavender Wolfen and its towed wreckage beside his Sky Claw. The avian saw the small trail of blood leading towards the main hallway. He drew out his blaster, his feline partner doing the same, but the bird signaling Katt to stay and guard the lavender fighter before quickly heading down the main hall.

The avian slowed down as he passed down the hallway of the sleeping quarters. He soon heard muffled sounds coming from the vulpine's room. As he got closer he was able to make out the sounds as even better, now hearing someone crying.

With utmost caution, the avian slowly made his way to the side of the door. Within seconds he stepped in front of the door and it slid open, instantly raising his weapon at the direction of the bed only to see an unarmed Krystal kneeling at the side of the it, sobbing.

She was not dressed in her usual flight outfit. And she was unarmed or at least from the looks of it. Her arms were crossed on the bed and her head rested in them, the vixen still crying. Falco eventually looked at the bed, seeing the bandaged, unconscious form of Fox lying there and finally realizing what was happening.

He holstered his blaster and slowly walked up to the crying vixen. She didn't bother looking up or do anything to acknowledge the avian's presence, instead she merely continued to silently cry to herself.

As he approached the bed, the full scale of the vulpine's injuries came into view and he could understand why the vixen felt so bad. Since the room was barely lit up, the huge red stains on the bandages blended well with the shadows, nearly making them invisible from Falco's previous position.

"How is he?" The avian asked even though he already knew the injured fox's current state.

"He lost a lot of blood.." Krystal managed between sniffles. "I was so afraid of losing him for real.."

Falco was now standing beside the crying vixen. He looked over the injured fox one last time and was fascinated how fast the vixen had worked on the vulpine's wounds. His gaze turned to look at the hidden side of the vixen, revealing the pile of first aid supplies lying around.

Without thinking, he abruptly switched the topic to something else which did nothing but made it worse.

"Aren't you with Star Wolf?"

"No, not anymore.."

"Why?"

"Because I'm not, okay?!" The vixen finally jerk her head and glared at the avian with red, tear filled eyes.

Falco simply shrugged and strolled back to the door. This was probably not the best time for them to talk. With one last glance over his shoulder, he opened the sliding door and stepped out, pausing outside and spoke again.

"You know, he had been missing you for the past months."

And with that the avian left, the door automatically sliding shut once again, leaving the two foxes alone in the room. She gripped the bedsheets of the bed and leaned forward until their muzzles were only inches apart.

"I know…" She let out before leaning in and giving the vulpine a soft kiss. She stayed like that as the seconds slipped by, savoring the taste of his lips which she hadn't tasted in what seemed like forever.

At this moment, a part of her hoped that the vulpine was awake and kissing back. But going from the amount of blood he'd lost, it would be near impossible for him to wake up. He needed the rest.

She was so afraid of losing him when they had landed inside the hangar of the Great Fox, she had immediately rushed out of her Wolfen and ran for the wreckage she towed in with her. When she opened the canopy, she was stunned by the pool of blood under the vulpine's feet.

The vixen had quickly checked and sighed in relief when she felt the faint pulse from him before attempting to pull him out. But she soon noticed that his left leg was trapped under the panel and she knew she have to think of a way to get him out.

She raced back to her Wolfen and opened up her storage, getting a cylinder out and running back. When she reached his cockpit, she pressed a small pressure point on the bronze colored cylinder and it extended on both sides. Her Cerinian staff.

She jabbed the bottom of her staff under the panel and used her strength to lift it up just enough to free the vulpine. When she was satisfied that there was enough room to get the unconscious fox out, she positioned her staff so that it would hold up the panel as she pulled the vulpine out of the cockpit then doing her best to carry him to his room.

The vixen remembered noticing the blood still oozing out of the vulpine's wounds and picked up her pace. As soon as she had entered the room, she ran for the first aid kit at the back, quickly tended to the vulpine's injuries.

She grimaced when she recalled pulling out the large shard of glass stuck inside the vulpine's bicep, pulling it and watched as blood poured out each centimeter was pulled out of his flesh.

That was only a moment ago. Now that he was resting and his bleeding was slowed to a stop by the bandages, she could feel at ease for a bit. She wrapped her arms around his head and gave him one last gentle hug and kiss.

"I won't lose you.." She whispered into the unconscious vulpine's ears before rising up and making her way to the bathroom door. She needed to wash herself after tending the vulpine's injuries. Her clothes were stained with his blood and it sent shivers down her spine just looking at herself.

IIIII

Falco walked back to the hangar and noticed Katt standing by the Wolfen, her arms across her chest and her tail swishing around impatiently. As she noticed the avian walking back calmly, she tapped her foot a few times, hoping the avian will get the message and tell her what happened. But it never happened.

"Well?" She finally asked, still in her impatient stance.

"She's taking care of him." Falco answered.

To that, she sighed in relief and walked up to the avian, wrapping her arms around his waist and leaning her head against his chest. He calmly returned the gesture, holding her tightly and pulling her closer.

"That's good. And now you can stare at me all you want." The feline joked, getting a small laugh from the avian.

"Oh, I'll be enjoying that." He grinned and they broke the embrace and headed for the hall.

Just then they both seemed to remember Dash. They stood where they were for a few silent seconds, the avian's features were wrinkled with worry. But then he felt Katt's paw on his shoulder and he turned to look at her in the eyes. She gave him a reassuring nod which seemed to calm his thoughts.

"He'll make it. He's a good pilot."

"Yeah."

They made their way down the hall and entered the rec room to relax a bit.

IIIII

The vixen sighed contently as the warm droplets continued to pelt her fur. She was letting the shower wash away her sweat, her worries and his blood. She had shivered when she noticed his blood in her fur, they had soaked through her blouse and into her fur and she was afraid it would give her nightmares in the future.

That amount of blood, she was surprised that the vulpine still breathed. But she was thankful nonetheless. Her world would have fallen apart if he'd died, and it would have only been worse if it had happened in her arms.

The thought of that made her bit her lips, the vixen having to muster her to prevent the tears from falling once again.

_It's over, he survived. That's all I needed to be happy. _She let her attention go back to washing herself and quickly got out. She dried herself with a towel and wrapped it around her body. The vulpine's scent was all over the bathroom since it was his personally. She wanted to stay there and take it in as much as her heart wanted but she reluctantly got out.

Since she'd moved out of the Great Fox, there were no clothes left in her old room so she instead went over to the vulpine's dresser and picked out some of his clothes. She kept her essentials on and slid on a large white T shirt and a pair of dark blue baggy jogging pants.

The vixen walked out the door, pausing just a moment to look back at the unconscious vulpine before leaving and heading for the rec room.

The other two had been seemingly waiting for her to come in, already sitting at the room's only table, the vixen joining them as she entered. She could tell they were quite surprised to see the her wearing the vulpine's clothes, causing her to explain why she was wearing them before they waved it off and focused on what really mattered at this moment.

"How did you get on the ship? Fox updated the authorization codes last month." Falco leaned back, crossing his arms over his chest and waiting for her to answer.

"I don't know..I typed in my old codes and they worked.." The vixen hung her head low. It had been so long since she'd talked to any of her old friends, if they would still consider being called that.

Just then, she realized why her codes were still in the system and she bit on her lips just thinking about it.

_He still had hope that I would come back to him…_

The vixen was snapped back to reality by Falco as he got up and went over to the kitchen area of the rec room. Since there was no room for a proper kitchen, the cruiser had that small area for cooking utensils and food storage.

The avian poured water into three cups and brought them back to the table, handing the two females a drink and leaving the last one for himself. She noticed that he seemed to have lost his arrogant manners through the past months. That or he just wasn't showing them right now.

She accepted the drink and was grateful that they had shown no hostility towards her, rather honest concern.

"How did you know Fox was in danger? I mean, I know you are a telepath but you never said you could sense him thousands of miles away." The avian asked as he took a swig on the transparent liquid.

"Well, we met down in Corneria City for a brief moment.." The vixen looked down with saddened eyes. "We were close to apologizing when Peppy called."

"And that's how all this happened?" Katt was sitting beside the vixen, she had an elbow on the table and supporting her head as she faced her.

"No, I just had this uneasy feeling when he left." Krystal replied, shivering as she recalled it. "It was unbearable.."

"I know that feeling well, if it weren't for me, birdie here would've died quite a while ago!" The feline joked and smirked at the avian.

Falco only rolled his eyes in return, getting a small laugh from Katt and a smile from Krystal. The mood was lightened for a second but was almost immediately brought back down as they continued their conversation. But the topic had get better now, knowing that the vulpine would be okay.

"Well, Fox is safe. There's no doubt about that." Falco answered, trying to wrap things up as he stood from the table and made his way towards the sofa before falling onto the couch and turning on the flat holographic television in front of him.

"Yeah.."

"Hey! Cheer up!" Katt exclaimed, giving the vixen a friendly pat on the back before joining the avian on the couch. "Oh, and welcome back, Krys."

The vixen smiled at the last bit, though she haven't mentioned if she'd left Star Wolf or rejoining Fox and the others. But it helped lighten up her mood, knowing she was still welcomed by her old friends. She got up and walked across the rec room, heading for the exit that lead to the hallway. She turned to look at what was being broadcasted and stopped for a moment as the news reached her.

"_News that both Star Fox and Star Falco have failed today's mission in retaking the platform is making national headlines not even an hour in the aftermath. We're also being told that the renowned Hero of Lylat, Fox McCloud was injured and dragged to safety by a mysterious fighter back to the Great Fox, followed soon by the remaining team of Star Falco._"

Krystal started to leave after hearing that, but once again stopping as she heard her feline friend call out to her.

"Where ya goin'?"

The vixen turned and smiled at the two before turning back to face the hallway outside. "I'm going to check on Fox."

With that, the vixen left the two in the rec room and walked back to the vulpine's bedroom. She half expected to see him awake but after remembering how much blood he'd lost that possibility slipped away. She instead tried to focus her attention on other things. Just walking these hallways brought forth feelings of nostalgia to her.

She remembered one part of the hallway is where she had teased Fox before their relationship began. It was another great memory of her being able to catch the vulpine on words and causing him to lose his sense. She smiled at that memory and the wild thoughts that had been running through his head at that time.

Finally, she was back in his room, once again able to hear the vulpine's slow breathing. She made her way to the side of his bed and sat down, allowing one of her hands to gently stroke the vulpine's cheek. He looked so peaceful to her and it made her smile.

_That look on his face when he sleep is always so cute…_

The silly thought caused the vixen to blush. She hadn't thought such things for such a long time. It would take a while for her to get used to it again. The time they were apart was unbearable to the both of them, she knew that as well. This time though, she would never leave him.

Before long she yawned as she continued to look down at the vulpine's sleeping gaze, finally allowing herself to lay down beside him before slowly closing her eyes and falling asleep.

IIIII

"The plan was a success." The lizard informed the dark floating head of a feline, grinning and rubbing his hands together in excitement.

The feline only nodded to the news. "Good."

"Surely this will break the mercenaries' confidence. They wouldn't dare bother us now. Not even the legendary Fox McCloud!" The reptile cackled but was cut off by the only word that the black cat had spoken out.

"No."

"What do you mean no?!"

"He won't break down so easily. But I may have a plan. I had seen the news that had been broadcasted, I know who was piloting that mysterious fighter."

"Huh? And what's that got to with breaking McCloud?"

"Leave that to me." With that, the hologram stopped and the lights within the room lit up. The lizard stood there and wondered what his superior had in mind but shoved the thoughts aside. He needed to get back up to the bridge of the cruiser he was on, those idiots would crash their ship any second from now if he was not back up there.

He left the room and walked down one of the many halls within the cruiser. Just knowing that the black feline had something in mind that would break the vulpine hero down made him grin. Just another barrier they had to break through towards a bigger goal.

Their only objective as far as the reptile know was to keep the Cornerians from expanding outside the system until the right time comes up. So far, this task is extremely easy.

Soon, he was on the bridge of his cruiser, sitting comfortably in the captain's chair and looking out of the glass windows and staring at the dark void outside.

"Soon, Corneria and the whole of Lylat will fall…Soon…"

IIIII

**Author's Note: Yikes, looks like something big is gonna happen. Hm. Anyways, I hope this chapter didn't bore you to death. I found this to be the hardest chapter I wrote because I just suck with aftermaths of events like these.**

**Once again, I appreciate and encourage you to review and give me feedback! And thanks again! I never expected to reach over 1000 views or get 30+ reviews on my story! I won't let you guys down!**

**Thanks Cpt. Fox for beta reading and all that had gave me feedback on the story!**


	6. A Possible Future

**Author's Note: Well, here's the next chapter! I'm quite busy at the moment, preparing stuff for university/college. I spent 3 hours on 2/3 of this chapter before getting it beta read. Apparently, I have weird ways of building sentences. The last part is raw, meaning I didn't take time to double check for any errors, you will know it when you start seeing more mistakes than usual.**

**Again, thanks Cpt. Fox for beta reading! And thank you all for reviewing and giving me feedback!**

**I encourage both guests and those with accounts to give me feedback. It helps me improve and motivates me! Thanks!**

**Enjoy!**

_**Chapter 6: A Possible Future**_

His eyes jerked open, his breathing ragged and rapid as red warning lights and alarms blared out from his cockpit. His whole craft shook violently as it continued to fly straight towards a green planet, its surface seeming to move rapidly as if it was a ball of swirling gases. And it probably was.

_But how?! I was fighting in Corneria's orbit! Hell, the whole Lylat system is a bunch of orbiting terrestria_l _planets, there's no damn way a gas giant will be around for light years!_ It didn't make any sense to him and his mind continued to come up with impossible theories as why there was an unknown planet before him, or rather how he ended up falling through the atmosphere of it.

He looked around desperately, noticing the damage that was done to his Arwing. He checked the status on the control panel and what he found made him stare the screen down in dismay. G-diffusers destroyed, engine lost, life support lost. He was basically surging towards the planet with nothing but the fighter's cockpit. But before any of this new information could be taken into account the vulpine's vision went black once again, the pressure on his body and the extent of his injuries being too much for him to handle.

When he finally returned to consciousness the first thing he noticed was the scenery outside his canopy. Green skies and yellow clouds, the surrounding vegetation were blurry but with a dull teal color. He could feel his heart still pounding at a fast pace, accompanying his deep breaths as the adrenaline continue to course through his body. He looked around, not recognizing anything about his surroundings. The only thing he knew was that his cockpit was somehow caught by a tall tree's crown, its teal leaves were covering the top of his wrecked Arwing and parts of the yellow branches holding the fighter in its place.

All of this had happened within seconds and the next series of events nearly made the vulpine's grip on his sanity fall apart from all that had happened. Pieces of burning debris fell from the sky, leaving lines of black smoke in the green background and ripping through the clouds. The parts landing in different places and some causing minor explosions.

He thought he saw the wreckage of a familiar fighter flying overhead, leaving a special dark brown smoke trail as it continued to lose its altitude until the vulpine was forced to pin his ears back as a loud explosion sounded off somewhere behind him.

Then he looked up again only to feel his heart skip a beat. The sky grew dark as a huge burning object the size of a cruiser came down. He recognized parts of the ship but he couldn't remember where he had seen them from. Loose pieces were flying out and splitting up, spreading the field of destruction as it descended from the skies.

His emerald orbs followed the burning meteor as it fell to his eye level, landing at a distance before being engulfed in a huge explosion the equivalent of a hundred nova bombs detonating at once.

No sooner had the explosion gone off did the shockwaves rush his way. His eyes were forced shut as the shocks collided against him. He could feel the tree supporting his fighter started to creak back and forth from the sheer amount of power.

He couldn't breathe as the shockwaves continued to charge and pummel him not just once, but a second and then a third, over and over. Though they were weakening, the force was still strong. He could only take another glance at the source of the blast and make out the rising black smoke coming from the impact before darkness overtook him again.

But this time, he didn't feel the transition of going from consciousness to unconsciousness and back again. He only felt the weight pressured on his eyelids for a second and then faded away, allowing him to open his eyes again. But this time to another site.

He was now sitting on a wooden surface, probably one of the tree's branches, staring at the horizon and watching as the strange world's scarlet star rose above the horizon. He didn't feel the adrenaline from before, nor the difficulty that came with breathing. He felt calm, soothed, almost as if nothing happened.

He continued to stare in awe at the star as the whole of it left the horizon and continued to slowly make its way up the green sky. It was a beautiful sight, but in his mind, there was a bit of disappointment and regret.

_If only she was here with me._

As if the wish had been granted, he felt two soft arms gently brushed past his neck before meeting over his chest. He looked down to see two blue arms wrapped around him from behind and then noticed the scent. Her sweet scent just behind him. No sooner did he notice that did her muzzle appeared out of the corner of his eyes, causing his head to turn and look over her beautiful face.

As always, it was breathtaking. Her genuine and loving smile, her green-blue orbs, her smooth facial fur and the locks of hair outlining her face. He couldn't look away, he didn't want to. He wanted to stare and admire her beauty forever.

But for some unknown reason, his head turned back to watch the star, disobeying what his mind ordered. Every part of his brain screamed for him to look back but he didn't. But then he felt her muzzle rest near his ear and felt her breath.

"Wake up, Fox…" She spoke in the softest of whispers.

He couldn't believe what she said, wake up? No, this is too good of a dream to wake up from. He wanted to stay dreaming this.

But as if the words had jurisdiction over his body his vision began to shift and once again he became unaware of his previous surroundings. He couldn't feel her arms, her muzzle resting beside his ear, and his own body started feeling the shift of the environment as his vision was once again black.

_No! Don't wake up…Please…_

IIIII

His eyes slowly opened, the first thing he noticed being the familiar feeling of his bedsheets and the sight of the cold steel ceiling above him. Then the pain grabbed his attention, especially concerning his left arm and his head. But a second later, he felt another presence with him.

He turned his head to the right and gasped in disbelief.

_I must be still dreaming…_

Right beside him laid the sapphire vixen, her face buried into his right arm, allowing him to feel her slow shallow breaths. He noticed the bandages covering numerous parts of his body, all of which continued to send stings of pain through him.

His mind took another minute before to try and comprehend it all before finally pulling its own weight and realizing the indications that this was not a dream. The pain, the emotions that she seemed to put off thanks to her telepathy being so in tune with his own body, it was all too real.

He didn't want to wake her up, instead choosing to stare at the blue fox sleeping beside him, admiring her beauty and allowing his mind to thank the vixen a million times for what she'd done. Out of instinct, he allowed his left arm to reach and softly brushed her locks away from her face despite the pain it brought forth.

He continued to gently brush her silky blue hair, running his fingers through it until he felt tired from the act and allowed his left hand to rest on the side of her face. He felt her cheek move a little, followed by the vixen letting out a sigh, and causing the vulpine curse himself for waking her up.

A moment later, he could feel the grip from her paws leave his good arm as she rubbed her eyes. He couldn't help but smile at her. Another few seconds passed and she finally opened her eyes, immediately meeting his own. Relief and joy were the first emotions he noticed in her expression followed with guilt and a bit of anger as tears swelled out of her perfect green eyes.

"Fox..?"

"Hey…" He didn't have the chance to finish his greeting as he felt her lunge at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and resting her head beside his, the vixen sniffling and allowing the tears to run down her cheeks.

"You liar! You said you would come back safely!" She cried, tightening her grip on the vulpine and letting her tears flow out.

He didn't know what to say. He knew he had to think of a rebuttal sooner or later, he couldn't stay silent while she just laid there and crying on his shoulder. And not a second later he returned the embrace with his right arm, pulling her closer, leaning forward until his muzzle touched her ear before letting out the only word he could think of.

"Sorry."

The vixen just continued to quietly sob, clinging to the vulpine and not letting go the whole time. Several minutes passed until she finally let go, easing back and looking him in the eyes with her own tear-filled gaze. He could easily see the redness surrounding her perfect aqua tinted orbs and the flurry of mixed emotions held within them.

"I'm still here, so I guess I still kept one part of the promise." He said, forcing a smile.

"No, you wouldn't have been if I hadn't followed my instincts and decided to follow you.." She responded before returning to her old position, but this time gently wrapping her hands around his neck and resting her head down on his shoulder before speaking again. "I just can't live without you…"

"I thought-"

"I'm sorry…" She went on, interrupting the vulpine. "I'm sorry it took me so long to realize that what you did months ago was only to protect me.."

"It's alr-

"And I'm also so sorry for hurting you while I was gone…" Tears once again swelled in her eyes as she continued to apologize to him.

"Krystal."

She eased back to look at him again, only to receive another smile. He gently rested his right paw against her cheek, watching her let out another sniffle before bringing her arms up and taking hold of his paw.

"Krystal, this was my fault." He started, already seeing the frustration in her eyes. He could tell the vixen wanted to put all the blame on herself, but he wouldn't allow it. "I'm the one who should be apologizing to you…"

IIIII

_This was my fault, not his. He doesn't need to say anything!_

The vixen continued to hold onto his right paw, resting her head on it as she tried to stop him from apologizing. She could feel her emotions slipping out and reaching throughout the room. Sooner or later, people outside would start feeling the them.

"For kicking you off the team." The vulpine started to apologize. "…I had never felt so empty, not even when my father died…"

"Fox…"

"And especially, I'm sorry for breaking your heart." He spoke out with a higher tone. She could tell that the vulpine was fighting back his tears now as well.

"Fox…" She managed to say, her voice was barely above a whisper. She knew he wouldn't allow her to put the blame on herself and with much reluctance, she finally gave in to his words, "…I…Forgive you.."

With that, she leaned forward and closed the remaining space between them. She had been longing to do this again for so long. Yes, she did kiss him once when he was unconscious, but this time he was awake and she could only hope he would answer it.

Much to her relief, she felt him press back, their mouths pressing against the other and allowing their tongues to get reacquainted with one another. She gently eased him back on the bed, their lips never parting from each another as their paws started to explore each other once again after months of separation.

A long minute had passed by before they parted for air, both of them holding looks of surprise, satisfaction, love, and even hints of lust. But unfortunately the moment wouldn't last much longer as they were interreupted, their attention shooting towards the door as the sound of it opening reached them.

"Krystal we're abou-" Falco stopped, taking in the scene he'd walked in on. A second later, the realization sank in and abruptly turned away. "Oh, uh…Fox, glad you're awake, bud."

Fox let out a smirk as the avian walked out the sliding door, stopping right before it closed to add one more thing.

"Peppy wants us to give him a call later. He's worried about ya. But since you're awake, you can talk to the old timer. See you two later."

With that, the door slid shut, leaving the two foxes alone once again. They only took another moment to look at each other before the vixen rolled off him and allowing him to sit back up. He sighed as he propped himself up until he was in a comfortable position, the blue vixen doing the same, afterward one of them finally speaking up again.

"Just a while ago, we were apart, now we're together…" The vulpine started, not sure how to say what he felt.

"Like before." The vixen finished, smiling at him. He returned the smile and nodded.

_And we'll be like this forever…I promise Fox.._

But soon, she noticed the vulpine grimaced, his thoughts drifting back to something else. She leaned forward to get a better view of his face and saw the look of confusion and distress in his eyes.

"What's wrong?" She asked, placing her paw over his and giving it a squeeze, pulling his attention back to her.

"N-nothing."

"I can tell you're lying."

He sighed, shaking his head and looking back at her. She could see the fear even though he hid it well and that only left her more determined to figure out what was wrong.

"I had a weird dream, that's all." He finally muttered. "But then again, it felt so…Real…"

"Real?"

"Yeah, everything looked so realistic and felt like it too."

_Could it be…?_

"What was the dream about?" She managed to ask, pushing her thoughts away. This sounded too familiar, something she had learned back on Cerinia in her younger years.

_But he's Cornerian…_

"Well, I was in the cockpit of my Arwing. I can barely remember most of it…" He started, trying to explain it the best his memory could allow. "I was falling towards a gas giant."

She tilted her head in confusion, not knowing what he meant by a 'gas giant'. She never heard of something like that. The vulpine noticed this and explained what it was to her.

"It's a planet made completely out of different gases."

She only nodded at that and waited for him to continue describing his dream.

"I had another black out after that." He closed his eyes, trying his best to recall what happened next. "Then, I woke up again and found myself looking over a weird forest of a different planet."

"Mhm?" She hummed in curiosity, her attention now completely focused on the vulpine's story.

"Teal colored leaves and yellow branches. They were definitely not from Lylat."

_Ceria Elkos…Those were a type of Cerinian tree. Could it be…?_

She was once again jerked out of her thoughts as he continued. "I saw pieces of a wrecked cruiser sized ship coming down and crashing around me and, for once, it terrified me. Not because I was afraid of getting hit…"

The vixen wrapped her arms around him as he went on.

"No, the reason I was scared was because I didn't know who was behind it. Those fighters…it could've been Falco and Katt or even you…" He allowed his right hand to gently hug the vixen, pulling her closer and letting her head rest on his chest as she listened. "Then came that giant fireball that was the ship.."

She looked up at him. This was sounding more like a premonition, and that was something that only her kind could experience.

"It crashed and then there was a huge explosion, sending shockwave after shockwave. I could barely breathe.."

"Is that when you woke up?"

"No." He shook is head. "The last was me sitting on a tree branch and looking at the strange planet's star rising. I was wishing you were with me when it happened, it was so beautiful.."

She smiled, not needing to guess that the vulpine was telling the truth and moved closer to cuddle up against him.

"Then a voice told me to wake up."

"Who's voice?"

"Yours."

The vixen's eyes grew wide, she remembered pleading the unconscious vulpine to wake up. Could it be her telepathic powers that had slipped his mind and allowed him to have that dream? Another thing that concerned her was the fact that she couldn't predict futures, not even in a dream state.

_My telepathy may be developing, but that couldn't explain why it was in his point of view and not mine…_

She closed her eyes and searched her mind. If it was what she suspected, then it should be in her memories. But after a minute, she gave up, she couldn't find them in her own mind. She opened her eyes and looked up at the vulpine.

_Which means…_

"Can I search for that dream?"

The vulpine hesitated, not sure why she was so intrigued about this dream he had. But finally, he nodded as she closed her eyes and started probing his mind using her telepathy. Strangely, her telepathic ability seemed to grow strong when she was with him.

She searched his mind, wandering through his memories and thoughts. One memory depicted their first encounter on Sauria. Another memory swept by, this time the vulpine was a young kit running down a hill as an Arwing flew past him and he reached and cheered. She couldn't help but smile, he seemed to have more good memories than bad ones.

She was so caught up with all the positive thoughts from the vulpine that she nearly forgot about the reason she was in his mind the first place. She was reminded about her objective when the image of the Cerinian tree he described floated towards her. It was blurry but unmistakable, the teal leaves and yellow colored branches are as clear as day to her.

The only thing that didn't remind her of Cerinia was the color of the sky. It was a deep emerald green with streaks of yellow clouds, whereas Cerinia's sky was always a twilight blue and the clouds a pale violet. It could've been just how Fox pictured it but then again, how did he dream about Cerinia when he had never been there before?

She reached for the floating image of the tree, entering it and viewed the entire dream. From when he was falling towards the planet to when he was stuck in a tree and was forced to watch the chaos of falling, burning debris and finally that peaceful scene of the scarlet colored star rising.

She had no doubt that it wasn't just a dream. It had the realistic feel to it which matched how her Cerinian elders' description of a premonition.

_Then that meant he's…_

She left his mind, she could feel the tears swelling up her eyes. She was in love with a possible Cerinian, and her heart became as light as a feather. She let out a happy smile at the realization but then it was soon replaced with concern. The dream was chaotic and violent, the only peaceful part about it was at the end. Her smile faded as she thought about the dream being a possible future. The last part was not a happy ending, the blue vixen that woke him up was her alright, but it was just her letting one of her thoughts run from her mind to his during their sleep.

She was jerked from her thoughts as the vulpine started to speak up with a concerned tone. He had probably noticed her expression changing from happiness to that of fear.

"What's wrong?" He gave her a squeeze with his arm.

She shook her head as she answered. "Nothing, it was just that dream of yours. It was quite…Scary."

"Oh."

The vixen didn't know why she didn't mention that he could possibly be a Cerinian or a distant descendant of one. She had heard stories as a child that in ancient times, some of her kind could travel through worlds.

_And he could be a descendant from one of those travelers…_

"Well, now that we're together again.." She changed the topic, pushing her thoughts to the back of her mind and leaned back down on his chest. "I was wondering what we could do now."

"Cuddle?" He grinned, pulling her closer and getting a small giggle from her. She hadn't felt like this since she left him months ago. Not even cuddling with Panther felt so…Exciting? She didn't know the right word to describe this feeling.

"Mm." She let out a sigh as they kept their position. She didn't want to move, she felt comfortable and safe in his arms. Then she remembered what Falco said and reluctantly pulled away. "We forgot about Peppy."

"Oh! Right! He wanted to talk to us." The vulpine rolled to the side of the bed, getting a disappointed sigh from her as she did the same and got to her feet. She turned to see him struggling to stand, quickly rushing to aid him.

"Easy now.." She brought his right arm over her shoulder and aided the vulpine as he limped towards the door.

"Don't worry! I'm tough." He said with a cocky smile, getting a smirk from the vixen.

"Sure, _Captain_."

IIIII

**Author's Note: Well, that's the 6th chapter. I hope it didn't disappoint you. And though this is usually categorized as 'Mystery', there will be a lot more drama in later chapters which will then fit into the 'Drama' genre.**

**I would also note that this is my first try with a somewhat romantic scene. xD Hope it turns out well.**

**Again, thank you Cpt. Fox for Beta reading and encourage anyone to give me feedback. Hell, tell me the mistakes in the 'last part' of this chapter in your review! Thanks!**

**Stay tuned!**


	7. Debrief and the Promise

_****_**Author's Note: Here's the seventh chapter! And yay, Fox and Krystal are finally getting together once again! But how long will that last? Who knows!**

**Anyways, I would like you readers of mine to do me a favor. Recently, Criticalkill had released the next part of 'Reviews for the Reviewing Reviewers', an article posted here for the SOLE purpose of giving out the reasons why reviews on stories are so important to not just me but a majority of authors, this had been one of the reasons why there were many incomplete but good stories out in the cold. The only thing keeping us writing is YOU, the reader and just giving a view does not mean that will motivate us to continue writing, we authors need your opinion and support of feedbacks to continue, not just views! So please, review!**

**And another thing I'd like to announce is the published 'raw' chapter of 'The Pilot and the Musician', the Bill/Fay story I'll be working on along with this story. If you haven't read it, check it out. You can get to the story through my profile. If you like it, leave a feedback on it to let me know if I should continue that one or put it on hold until I finish this story.**

**Again, thank you Cpt. Fox for Beta reading, I'm not quite sure if he would want to continue beta reading for me but that's his decision. He had done so much for me and I just don't know any way to repay him. :(**

**But enough about all this, you want the story so here it is! Enjoy!**

_**Chapter 7: Debrief and the Promise**_

The Great Fox's nose glowed a bright orange as it descended down through Corneria's atmosphere, escorted by a squad of five Cornerian fighters. The newly reformed Star Fox team stood on the bridge, watching the clouds grow in size as they neared the surface of the planet. They all stayed silent, none of them having anything to say; since the mission of saving platform Columbia had failed, the four mercenaries had heard the bad rumors spreading throughout the system.

Krystal wore a weary gaze, clinging to the vulpine's good arm. She was scared to show her face to the public since the Anglar War, and the reason she was able to walk on the city then was because she had made up a fake identity, plus everyone had mostly focused their attention on the males of Team Starwolf, not really giving the vixen a second glance. Though some may remember her for what she did to Starfox.

The vulpine noticed the worrisome look on her face, attempting to stand on his own and getting a surprised look from the vixen. She had let go of his right arm as he did so, allowing him to wrap around the vixen's shoulder before gently pulled her closer to him and letting her head rest on his half-bandaged chest.

"Don't worry." He cooed, rubbing the vixen's shoulder gently as his reassuring words reached her, letting her rest easy. "Everything will be fine. I'll make sure of it."

She looked up to meet his emerald gaze, knowing he didn't have to do this. The vixen wrapped her arms around his waist gently, avoiding any wounded spots she might touch as she nuzzled his chest and let out a sigh.

"I know what's going to happen, but I want to face this alone."

"No, I won't stand there and watch as you get threats and badmouthed by the public."

She gave the vulpine a slight squeeze, enough for him to realize she was not backing off and wouldn't allow him to help her. He sighed in defeat and returned the squeeze, earning a small smile from her as they stood in the embrace for a few silent but blissful moments before pulling away.

Falco and Katt was a bit more on the Brightside, though they were still a bit saddened that they had lost a comrade during the mission. They had been casually exchanging conversations and playfully pushed each other around after a joke or a flirtatious attempt.

Their cruiser soon flew through the cloud level, lowering its altitude as it neared Corneria City. The five escorting crafts broke apart from the Great Fox and left, signaling the clearance for the spaceport and landing first before being followed by the dreadnaught behind them.

The Great Fox was docked up in a private hangar within the military section of the port which hid the team from the frenzied news reporters that were waiting at the public station. Much to Fox's relief, Peppy assured them that he would pick them up personally.

The four exited the cruiser, meeting up with the General who had been waiting for them since they landed. As they approached, Fox saw his mentor's surprised expression directed towards the vixen supporting him. They were finally at arm's length and the hare stepped up and gave the vulpine a fatherly hug.

"Thank goodness you're alright." The hare spoke in a relieved tone, he finally let the vulpine go and stepped back to look at Krystal, knowing well that she was the one who had saved him. "Thank you, Krystal."

She was quite surprised to be thanked instead of getting the cold shoulder, but from all the time she had spent working with the hare, she had known him to be tolerant and wise. The vixen bowed her head in acknowledgement, not wanting to speak up yet.

After their brief greeting, the General lead them towards the military complex within the spaceport. Along the way, Krystal received several confusing glances as well as a few despising glares from patrolling soldiers and port workers. She expected this but still felt the guilt and shame starting build up inside her.

"It's alright." The vulpine reassured her, noticing the expression she wore as they continued to walk.

She smiled in return. His words were enough to ease the vixen from her inner turmoil and encouraged her to ignore the other glares that would be shot at her. They had walked past at least six cruiser housed hangars before entering the complex. It was a group of buildings within the spaceport that were protected by sentry cannon posts surrounding the cluster in a circle.

The group consists of a three story temporary barracks for soldiers who were assigned to guard the complex for a period of time, a four story office building, two supply depots, a garage mimicking the size of a football field and a control tower acting as the forward headquarters for the main military base within the mountains.

Fox had been here a couple of times before but this was the first time in two years since he'd visited the complex. He wondered why were they heading there instead of driving back to the main base for the debriefing. He walked up alongside Peppy, expecting an answer from him.

"You'll see." The hare said as they entered the tower and lead them into the elevator.

The group was dead silent for a while but eventually the peace was broken by Falco who couldn't bare the silence that lingered among them.

"So…" The avian started, attempting to start up a small talk despite the fact that most of them were not in the mood for a conversation. "How's work in the military, Peppy?"

"Not as good as it is." The aged hare turned to face the avian with a look of sadness. "I just lost a handful of men on that platform."

"We did our best-"

"I know. I'm not mad at you in the least." Peppy cut the avian's retort and waited for everyone's attention until he was satisfied that they were all listening before he continued. "You all had lost a fair share and still managed to save the commander. That is than enough to prove your point."

All four hung their head down, remembering the losses and failing to accomplish the mission they had. Though Krystal was not involved, she too felt guilty. If she had just left the Great Fox and flew there by herself, she would've been able to prevent the death of everyone onboard the orbital station and especially the damage done to the vulpine she loved so dearly.

The elevator doors slid open, revealing what seemed like a station platform for magnetic trains. Soon after the team had realized what it was, a long blur of dull gray shooting past the stop and ignoring the group that stood waiting there.

"Don't worry, that wasn't the train we're waiting for."

Fox took this chance to voice the question everyone was thinking. "Peppy, what is this? I've never seen this before."

"It's the newly installed Military Transit System. M.T.S in short."

"When was this installed exactly?" Katt asked aloud from the back, leaning against the cold gray wall of the station with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Just a month after the Anglar War."

"That made sense. I've not been here since the war was over." Fox replied, walking up to the edge and looking both ways.

The train tracks were unlit, making it hard for the vulpine to tell how far the system went. He turned back to give an inquisitive look at the aged hare. "How far does this system go?"

"All across Corneria for quick deployment. In truth, the system started its construction right after the Lylat War and was only recently completed."

The vulpine nodded as he spot the flicker of light within the tunnel as a silhouette of a train appeared. The train stopped at the station, opening the door to its first coach and allowing a mole in officer's colors to exit. He quickly stepped to the side of the entrance and saluted to the group before politely gesturing them to enter.

The General walked in first, followed closely by the two foxes and then the last of the team before the mole reentered, the door automatically closing behind him as the train took off again. They all sat down in the seats, switching to a different topic as the train made its way to the main military base.

In ten minutes, they had arrived at their destination as the train slowed to a stop. They all got off as soon as the doors had opened, walking in silence towards the lift and traveling up towards the surface. Not long after did they arrive at the General's office, each of them taking seats in front of the hare's desk.

"As of standard Cornerian time at 2100, yesterday." The aged rabbit started. "Tell me all about what happened during the mission."

"I arrived late." Fox stated, his gaze lowered to the floor as he continued. "The platform was on the other side of the planet when I reached orbit."

"Man, your piloting skill must've rotted over the months." Falco rudely intruded as the vulpine explained.

"Can it, Falco. It's not about skill." Fox retorted, shooting a glare at the avian.

"Alright, continue." Peppy leaned forward, clasping both paws together as his elbows rested on the desk, his ears twitched and adjusted their focus on the vulpine.

"When I arrived, the platform was already in bad shape. Not sure if it was like that before Falco and his team arrived but the situation looked grim."

The hare nodded and waited for him to continue on.

"We did as we were told, I handled the enemy fighters while Falco, Katt and their wingmate infiltrated the base and take out the enemies inside the station." The vulpine shifted to a more comfortable position in his seat, making sure his injured left arm was resting over his lap before continuing. "I was running out of options fast and was forced to use a nova bomb closer to the base than I should have."

The aged hare only gave another nod.

"It was a risk I had to take."

"I understand."

"After a clearing out the last of those only more seemed to come out from the platform, I was nearly overwhelmed."

"That's when you were nearly shot down?"

"Not quite, I _did_ manage to take out a few more of the fighters before their leader crippled my ship and left me in a pretty bad condition. I blacked out not long after."

"That's when Krystal saved you, am I right?" The hare looked towards the vixen beside the vulpine who only nodded in response, getting a smile from the aged General in response. "I see. Falco, what was the situation like inside the platform?"

The avian sat up straight, stretching his back before resting both hands on the chair's armrests. "It was quite boring, barely any enemies. Hell, it was almost empty in there."

"That's strange…"

"Yeah, it was." Falco let out a sigh as he thought for a moment. "Even the control room was empty. It was there when I saw the security camera showing those bastards leaving the station in their fighters."

"And you warned Fox about them?"

"Yeah, but he probably knew it before I warned him."

"I did, but thanks for the warning anyway." The vulpine turned and gave the avian a smirk but the bird chose to ignore his friend.

"I freed the prisoners and met up with Falco later on, then Dash and organized a plan on escaping the platform." The pink feline added.

"Unfortunately, we had to split up to get to the other shuttles that were spread throughout the station." Falco continued. "The commander boarded the one in the hangar we landed in and got out safely."

"I see…" The hare leaned back into his chair, letting out a tiring sigh as he closed his eyes and rested his arms on his belly. They were all tired, all of them craved for a chance to sleep but knew this was more important right now.

The General's office was silent. None of them spoke out. They just sat there and replayed the whole mission from their own point of view in their minds, frustrated as their brains started seeing scenarios that would've prevented the failure. All of the team held the same expressions, mainly anger that were directed at themselves…and Peppy seemed to notice that. He eventually broke the silence and jerked the four from their thoughts.

"Well, from what you told me, their main objective was probably an attempt to break the morale among the Cornerian's population."

"What does that mean?" Fox asked, not following the bit about 'breaking the morale among the populace'.

"What I mean is…" Peppy stopped mid-sentence, standing up and walking towards the window that overlooked the city below at the base of the mountain. "Everyone had been counting on you guys when it came to protecting them."

"Yes, but how would this break their morale?"

"We have always counted on you guys to protect the Lylat System, and you have never failed. But now that the whole system knows you were defeated, it will send fear into their hearts because they know this new enemy can beat you." The hare turned to face the group. "I have a bad feeling about this…"

"Then what should we do now?" Falco asked, spreading his arms out questioningly.

"For now, I need you all to be at ease, perhaps two weeks of rest."

"Why? We can still fight!" Fox retorted, standing up from his seat and giving the hare a determined look.

"No, you're taking the break."

"But-"

"Look at you! Fox! Just look at you!"

The vulpine stood there stunned at the hare's sudden outburst, letting the words sink in before taking a glance over himself and realized what Peppy had meant. He could see the red spots on the bandages slowly growing followed by a surge of pain. His sudden action of standing up and tugging on his left arm must've re-opened the wound.

A second later he sat back down in his seat, clutching his injured arm with his good one, gritting his fangs as the pain continued to hold a grip on him. Krystal quickly reacted to this, soothing the vulpine while trying to tighten the wraps, hoping the pressure from the bandages would stop the bleeding.

"Fox…You almost got yourself killed, do you think I can still live to know my closest friend's son die because of me?"

"If I die, the only one to blame is myself…" Fox growled through his fangs, still baring the pain.

"No Fox, all of you are going to take this break. None of you can reject this."

They all let out a disappointing sigh except for Fox, he was still growling at the reopened wound on his arm.

"It is already planned that we will take a moment of silence for those we lost on Remembrance Day. So we will have four moments of silence that day."

They nodded in response, knowing that they need to be prepared for the occasion. To shed the grief on that day and to remember those who gave their lives during the wars that were fought through the decade. The moments of silence were set in three periods, the first being in the morning at seven then another at noon and finally the last one being in the evening before supper.

Each moment was for a different war. The Lylat War, Aparoid Invasion and the Anglar War. Mourners and other participants are required to wear black attires during the event and wear Cornerian Rubybood flower which represent the blood that was shed for the system.

The fourth moment was for the recently lost crewmen onboard Columbia. The time it was held was not mentioned but they would know it sooner or later when it broadcasts across the city.

"I've also booked you four for the Golden Planet hotel. That'll be where you'll rest. Dismissed."

They all rose up from their seats in silence, with nothing left to say. They all headed for the door. Falco and Katt walking out first, followed by Fox with aid from Krystal.

"Krystal, a word with you for a moment please." The hare spoke out, getting attention from the group.

She reluctantly did as she was told, giving a gentle hug before handing the vulpine to Falco. She walked back into the office and turned her head to watch them leave the hall and entered the elevator. Only once the team was gone did the hare began to speak.

"Krystal, what brought you back to Fox?"

She had expected the hare to ask this, knowing how protective the aged rabbit was when it came of the vulpine. The vixen dropped her gaze down to the carpeted floor, thinking of a way to put it the best she could. To tell the hare she had regretted everything since she left Starfox.

"Peppy…" She murmured, continuing to search for the right words before finally forming a sentence. "I know you might not believe me but…I've learned a lesson the hard way."

"I hope so…" He replied with a grim tone, causing her to nervously look back down.

"I'm sorry…" She closed her eyes and bowed her head low. "I didn't know he was trying to protect me..."

"He had been depressed ever since."

"I know…I want to make it up to him." She looked up to meet the hare's glaring eyes. She would've read his mind but she couldn't. She was too emotional at the moment to use her telepathy as her eyes started to swell with tears. "I didn't mean to hurt him…I swear!"

His expression lightened a bit as he continued to listen to her.

"I loved him, and I still do! I'd die if I never get to see him, feel his touch…or being in his arms…" She spoke as she felt the droplets of tears running down her cheeks. "Peppy, please…Don't separate us…"

What happened next was unexpected. She felt the aged hair wrap his arms around her, giving her a light hug and patting her on the back, immediately calming her down. He pulled away and looked at the vixen face to face, now wearing an expression of understanding.

"I know that feeling well. That is why I want you to promise me that you'll take care of him and protect him like he does to you."

The sapphire vixen let out a sniffle, a smile slowly creeping over her face as the tears continued to silently fall. She was overjoyed to be given a second chance from the aged hare, and for a brief second she thought all of this, from when she woke up with the vulpine to this very moment was all just a happy dream. She nodded and getting a smile from Peppy as they once again stepped forward and into another friendly embrace.

"Thank you…" She managed between sniffles as they eased away.

"No need to thank me, I knew from the moment we first met you on Sauria that you'd be the one his world would revolve around for a long time if not forever."

"I'll never break that promise…"

"I know you won't." He gave her another smile before returning behind his desk. "Now catch up to him! He needs you more than ever!"

"Mm!" With that, the vixen bolted out the office, deciding to go down the stairs instead of waiting for the lift. She quickly descended down, hoping that they wouldn't be too far ahead as she thought they were as she reached the ground floor, bursting open the door and into the lobby, her eyes darting around and trying to spot out her team.

Noticing that they were outside, she quickly ran across the lobby and out the doors, reaching for the vulpine as she got closer. Fox was caught by surprise as her hands found their way around his waist from behind and locking him in a tight hug.

"Krys-" He turned around and was instantly cut off by the vixen's lips meeting his.

They stayed in that position for a long while, the other two deciding to leave the foxes alone so they could enjoy the moment. They were locked in a never ending moment of bliss as they continued to let their tongue explore the other's mouth, allowing their hands to move to their favorite positions; his good arm down to her waist while her own made their way up around the vulpine's neck.

The kiss might have lasted for another minute, neither of them were sure or cared for that matter, before they finally had to break apart for air. They panted while still holding onto each other, their hearts beating twice as fast after sharing their passionate embrace, until he was finally able to speak after catching his breath.

"Krystal, that was so sudden-"

"I know."

"What was that about?"

"Oh..Nothing." She smiled sheepishly before leaning against his chest. "…Just something Peppy told me."

"Am I allowed to know?" The vulpine looked down at her, meeting the vixen's loving gaze.

"Nope, it's a secret." She teased as she once again rested her head on his chest.

"I guess I'll get it out of you eventually."

"Mm, you can't read minds…"

…_Yet…_ She finished the sentence in her mind, not wanting the vulpine to know the possible truth she had discovered a few hours ago on the ship.

They enjoyed the moment a while longer before remembering about the hotel. They made their way out of the military base, calling a hovercab and driving off towards their destination. The sun was setting and both foxes were too tired to do anything else at night.

They met up with Falco and Katt as they entered the lobby, getting smirks from them both while heading towards the elevator. They would explore the five star hotel some other time. Right now, their first priority was to get a good night's sleep. They were soon forced to split up to get to their respective rooms but Krystal decided to stay with the vulpine.

The two entered his suite, switching on the lights and revealing the layout of the room. The den had a couch that sat two and a half meters away from the flat holographic television screen with a glass coffee table in between them and a small kitchen area at the back. To the right was the bathroom equipped with all the essential including…a medium shower booth big enough for the two of them.

They soon headed for the bedroom, first noticing the king-sized bed sitting against the side wall and then the balcony to the left. The nightstand sat on the right with the dresser while on the left was a tall lamp.

The vixen helped him as the vulpine walked over and plopped onto the bed, letting out a tired yawn and getting a giggle from her.

"What? I'm tired."

"Mhm…" She got on the bed with him as they cuddle up against each other.

They stayed in that position for a moment, savoring the feel of their bodies touching. He finally eased away, resting on his back and looking up at the ceiling letting out another yawn. He could feel the vixen resting her head against his chest and couldn't help but let a smile make its way across his face. He loved this feeling, he missed it.

Soon they were too tired to keep their consciousness. Sleep was taking over but they continued to fight it, not wanting to give in just yet but ultimately conceding. The vixen let out a yawn, getting a smile from the vulpine as he watched her rub her eyes. He had always thought that it looked cute.

Knowing that the vixen was slowly drifting off to sleep, he leaned towards her and kissed her forehead.

"Time to get some rest." He softly whispered into her ear.

"Mm..." She let out, apparently still trying to stay awake.

"I'll make it up to you tomorrow if you sleep now."

She let out a tired sigh, slowly raising her head up and gave him a soft kiss before returning back to her position, closing her eyes and yawned again.

"Good night, Fox…"

"Night Krystal."

IIIII

**Author's Note: And there's the seventh chapter. 4, 096 words in total. Phew! That's alot.**

**Again, I'd like you to read Criticalkill's 'Reviews for the Reviewing Reviewer', that will mean a lot to not just me but to other authors as well. And if you have time, check out my other story!**

**Thank you Cpt. Fox for beta reading my chapters up until now, I owe you a lot!**

**And remember to leave a review with feedbacks, opinion etc! Was this bad? Was this good? Tell me! I do NOT in anyway beg for attention, it's just that your feedback is important to me and tells me that I should continue to write for YOU. This is for YOU. So if you do want more of this, please leave a review!**

**Thank you all!**


	8. Remembrance

**Author's Note: Well, here's chapter number 8. Last chapter was the longest on the story? Then this would be the shortest, at 2,428 words total without the ANs that I put. Yes, this is somewhat dedicated to Remembrance Day...At some point anyway, I basically skipped the whole day and went with the last moment of silence in my story. Hell, it would be quite repetitive and boring. But I'm also not sure if the story is going downhill with you guys so tell me how is this going so far?**

**Also, if you haven't read my other story 'The Pilot and the Musician', then check it out! It's a romance story revolving around Bill Grey and Fay Spaniel, currently not as progressive but trust me, it will get interesting later on!**

**Please leave a review and feedback!**

**Thanks Cpt. Fox for beta reading and all of you who had reviewed, enjoy this chapter!**

_**Chapter 8: Remembrance**_

"And now we will have one last moment of silence for those who had lost their lives on the Columbus." Peppy announced to the gathered crowd of thousands before him.

They were all dressed in black, a red flower pinned to the left of their chests, bowing their heads low and closing their eyes. Some of the relatives of the recently killed tried to fight back their tears as the event took place. All of the high-ranking military officials were on a large stage in front of the gathering along with the newly reformed Star Fox team.

The ceremony was taken place at the Memorial of Wars; A pitch black cliff off the mountain base that stretched one-fourth the city where the Cornerian Cemetery of Honor was situated. Names of brave soldiers that fought in the wars were etched onto its surface but still merely covered a small portion of the massive Cliffside.

Fox had been fighting back paparazzi and other public interference throughout the day. The most common questions asked were '_Why was Krystal back?' _or _'What do you feel about your first failed mission?' _Both question had made the vulpine boil in rage, it was like a game of cat and mouse chase where the team was being chased and the only way to escape of this was to give in and answer the questions that they'd all like to ignore.

"This is none of your business." He had said. "If you could _please _leave us alone just for today. The mission failed because the enemy had a much more devised plan than we thought."

"Could you tell us what's your relationship with Krystal now that she's back?" One of the reporters, a feline asked, shoving her microphone into the vulpine's face and getting a growl of irritation from him.

"I said it's none of your business!" With that, he had walked away, the group of paparazzi following as he walked out of the hotel, pulling Krystal with him.

And even now, late at night, the media dogs were still over the team, taking each and every moment they could find to shove a microphone, camera, or recorder into their faces and asking those same questions over and over again. But to his surprise, none of his friends had made an outburst.

_That's just how the media is nowadays…Not caring a single bit about our damn feelings._

The moment of silence was over. Heads started to rise back up to look at the stage and the sound of conversations started to grow. The vulpine turned to look at the vixen to his right, meeting her beautiful blue-green orbs as they ended the ceremony. She was wearing a jet black long dress with a slit to her left side which revealed her slender leg when she walked. He couldn't imagine a sight more beautiful than how she looked today, even if it wasn't her usual attire. Hell, everything she wore had fit her, none of it looked any less beautiful to him.

After the crowd had disbanded, the team had made their way down the stage with the rest of the officials present. As they walked down the stairs, the vulpine abruptly turned, walking off alone and catching the confused looks coming from the team and Peppy. But the hare soon realized what the vulpine was up to and left the group, entering his personal hovercar and driving off.

"Where you going?" Falco called out to him, stopping the vulpine in his tracks.

"Pay my parents a visit." Fox answered, not bothering to turn and face the group and continued walking, his head hanging low and walking at a slow pace down the cemetery. Both Katt and Falco shrugged before walking away, knowing that the fox would want to be alone for this, and leaving the blue vixen standing there and staring at the vulpine.

_I haven't walked around here for a long time._ He thought as he strolled down the dirt path that lead its way towards a guarded part of the cemetery. There were thousands, hundreds of thousands of gravestones and crosses lining each side of the walkway, each other with names of fallen soldiers and other dead engraved upon them. Every time anyone ever walked around they would feel the gloomy aura of this place.

He was only able to take two more steps before he heard footsteps behind him. He turned to see the sapphire vixen walking up to him with a concerned look on her face. The vulpine grimaced, regretting that he had forgotten her back at the ceremony.

"Sorry, Krystal. I'm just a bit…"

"I understand.." She softly spoke, reaching to grab his good paw and giving it a light squeeze.

"Come to think of it, you haven't met my parents yet, have you?"

"No." The vixen answered as she shook her head.

"Then I guess you can now."

"Fox, I don't think I should intrude on your-"

"No, it's okay." He interrupted her, stepping closer to her and wrapping his good arm around her. "I'm sure they'll be happy to meet you."

IIIIII

The two of them had walked down the dirt path for a while now, passing rows upon rows of graves and several mourners and caretakers along the way. They hadn't spoken a single thing since, the only sound being heard being the light breeze and the sound of the city in the distance.

"Are you sure you're okay with this?" She asked, looking up at the vulpine as they continued to walk.

"Of course." He replied casually, turning to face her and forcing a smile. "I told you this already."

Not wanting to push the topic any further, she simply nodded and rested her head on his shoulder, clinging onto his right arm as they neared the walled off area of the cemetery. There were two guards stationed at the sides of the rusted gate and the foxes were stopped by one of them, stepping up to the couple and saluting to them.

"Sorry this area is closed. Time for touring the _Grave of Heroes _are halted until tomorrow." The guard- A German Sheppard- informed them, oblivious to who he was talking to.

"I'm not here to tour; I'm here to pay a visit to my _parents_."

The canine froze, eyes nearly popping out as he looked down at the couple, meeting the glare coming from the vulpine that stood in front of him. It only took him a second to realize who he was talking to before stepping aside and bowing.

"Sorry, sir! I-I didn't know!"

"Don't worry. It happens." He shrugged, gesturing the guard to rest easy.

The canine gave on more salute before turning back to his fellow guard- A green avian-and signaling him to open the gates. The avian gave the canine a nod and pushed a part of the gate open, the light screech of the rusted metal followed. Only when the gate was wide enough for the foxes to enter did the green bird step aside, saluting to them as the couple walked in.

The walled off area of the cemetery was about the same size of the Great Fox's hangar. It would have only taken two minutes to walk from one side to the other. The graves here were fewer, larger, much more detailed and scattered around the area with bricked paths leading up to them.

The two walked down one of the roads, passing the midsection of the area and stopping just in front of two graves. At the back was a large statue of Arwings flying outward and a fox standing in the middle, his arms crossed over his chest and staring at the sky with a determined look. The statue was like an exact replica of Fox but the vixen could easily tell that the statued animal looked much older than him.

The two gravestones before them were set side-by side, each had names etched onto them delicately, with the Cornerian flag overlooking the words with extended wings that stretched to the length of them. The vulpine brought her closer to him as he fought back tears.

"Hey mom, dad…" He spoke down to the two tombstones, his voice getting shaky as he continued. "It's been awhile."

She could sense the emotions escaping from the vulpine, overwhelming her as tears started to form in his eyes. The vixen tried her best to not let his emotions get to her but it proved too hard as her vision began to turn watery.

"I would like you to meet someone." He tried his best to be cheerful as he pulled the vixen closer to him.

She looked at him, uncertain of what she should do. She had never visited dead family members or friends this way. Cerinians contact the dead with their telepathic powers, not like this. Then again, this was not Cerinia and not everyone here was a telepath.

"Go on, introduce yourself." He softly whispered, getting a nod from the vixen as she stepped in front of the graves.

"Hello…I'm Krystal."

"_Pleased to meet you._"

She froze as the sudden voice of a male entered her mind. Her jaws dropped, stunned from the greeting. She didn't know what to say afterwards, words wouldn't form from her, she was basically speechless.

_Was that…._

She waited for an answer from the previous voice, but it never spoke out again. But in its place, she could feel a cool breeze brush past them then followed by a warmth which crept itself towards her. She smiled, allowing the feeling to engulf her as she closed her eyes. She could see a slight picture in her mind that didn't belong to her.

It was a pair of red foxes, smiling as they cradled a kit together between them. It only took a second before she realize the kit was Fox and it was a memory from his _parents_. It surprised her, it was then that the image was replaced with something else, it felt more like a message and for unknown reason, the vixen knew what the message was.

"Don't worry." She started with a confident but soft tone in her voice. "I'll take good care of him…"

The warmth slowly left her, replaced by the normal night breeze as she finished. The events that happened after their reunion looked like signs of some sort. First the strange dream and now _this_. Though this one surprised her, it was less intense than the dream and more soothing, almost a happy moment of some sort.

"Well, I'm sure they will believe that." The vulpine said, using his right arm to wrap around her waist as he stood behind her.

She looked at him, shooting a loving smile before turning her whole body around and wrapping both arms around his, resting her head on his chest. They stood there for another moment or so, both of them thinking of what to do after this visit. But the fox had many things he wanted to tell his parents before departing so she stepped aside so he could face the two stones.

She listened as he talked about events of the Lylat War aftermath, saving Sauria and finally meeting her, ending it by removing the Rubyblood flower that was pinned onto his black jacket and setting it infront of the graves. The vixen followed after, to the vulpine's surprise which she giving him a smile in return.

Not long after, they walked out of the walled off cemetery, the guards opening the gates for them as they approached to exit, taking another stroll down the dirt path they had previous came from. Soon, they had reached the first street outside.

"Well, now what should we do?" Fox asked, turning to face her and wearing a loving smile.

"Mm…I don't know." She murmured, nuzzling the vulpine's shoulder as they walked along the road. "What time is it?"

He brought his right wrist up, apparently wearing the wrist com all the time even on breaks. He took a second to read whatever it said on it before turning back to the vixen . "It's ten-thirty."

"Mm." She hummed, looking up at the starry night sky and letting out a sigh. "It's still early."

"You think?" The vulpine smirked, following her gaze up. Then, his expression changed to that of a cheerful state as he thought of an idea. "Let's go watch the stars somewhere else."

"Hmm?" She turned her head to him, giving a quizzical look. "Where?"

"Just follow me, you'll see." He extended his paw gentleman-like, getting a giggle from her as she took it and allowed him to lead her to wherever it was he had in mind.

IIIII (From here on, this is non-beta'd.) IIIII

"Have you seen Panther or Krystal lately?" The chameleon asked as he entered the lounge of the hideout, plopping down on the couch and yawning.

The wolf that sat beside him remained silent, his eyes never leaving the holographic TV at the front as the news of the previous event that happened a day ago played. Only when the lavender Wolfen appeared on screen did the lupine pause the footage, turning to face his reptilian friend, his violet eye burned with rage. "Do you see that, Leon?"

"Well, that explains her." Leon leaned back, an amused look on his face. "Guess she couldn't get over that stupid McCloud."

"I could care less about that damned woman, what I'm angry about is Panther…"

"What? What did he do?"

"He took not only his Black Rose but also stole a fourth of our smuggled goods…" The lupine slammed his fist onto the small table before them, startling the chameleon as he vented his rage. "That damned cat…"

"And he left without telling us anything?"

The lupine simply nodded, standing up and leaving the lounge, stopping at the doorway before answering the reptile. "Whatever he's up to, the next time we see him, we _kill _him."

With that the wolf left, leaving Leon alone. He simply shrugged, turning back to the holographic TV and voicing the command that resumed the news, having not learned about the incident yet. Now Star Wolf is short on two pilots, if they were to survive, they'd either find new pilots that were just as good as the cat and the vixen or forced to disband. He didn't like any of the options that were available. Though if there wasn't a third option, he would go with the former.

"I gotta discuss this with him later." He muttered as the news continued.

IIIII

**Star Wolf is not involved in this, eh? And a clue to what's happening? Who knows. This chapter is kinda like a filler but the next chapter would be more interesting; I'll be focusing more on our two favorite foxes in the upcoming chapters so leave a review and stay tuned! More feedback, the bigger chances that the next chapter will come out sooner!**

**Again, thank you Cpt. Fox for beta reading and all of you who had reviewed last chapter.**

**Again, check out my Bill/Fay story, I was actually quite surprised when I find out that my story is one of TWO stories that dedicated in this pairing which I think deserves a chance to shine around. Yes, my favorite pairing is Fox and Krystal but hey! It's not bad to try out different pairings.**

**Anyway, as I've already mentioned; the next few chapters will be focused more on the two foxes. You had requested it in the reviews and it's coming out soon so stay tuned!**


	9. Last Wish

**Author's Note: Hey there people! Well, you've asked for a chapter dedicated to Fox and Krystal and I've hinted it last chapter on the last part. And here it is! I gotta admit, this chapter is quite short, only about 500 words longer than the previous one. It's my first actual romance scene between them and I hope I didn't do too bad with it. I still had that weird sentencing habit of mine before it got beta read.**

**Speaking of beta read, thanks again, Cpt. Fox for beta'ing! And as always, thanks for those who had reviewed last chapter!**

**I'd appreciate feedbacks and critiques on this, since this is my first real romantic scene. (Chapter 6 and 7 is sorta...) Anyways, enjoy! Read and review please!**

_**Chapter 9: Last Wish**_

The wind blew gently across the grassy opening that the two foxes had entered, the stars here glittering more brightly than they had in the cemetery. She stopped and looked up, staring in awe at the beautiful scene above, letting a smile tug on her face. Fox, who also stopped followed her gaze up into the starry night, letting a smile of his own creep along his muzzle. They both stood there, enjoying the view, still holding on each other's paw.

They were not far away from the suburban districts of the city, near the base of a forested hill which was adjacent from the military grounds to the west. This was the best place to watch the stars in all their beauty, which was exactly why he had brought her here. The vulpine gently gave her paw a tug, getting her attention as he met her turquoise gaze.

"They're beautiful." She murmured, sitting down and gesturing for him to do the same.

"Yeah…" The vulpine eased down beside her, wrapping his good arm around her shoulders and pulling the vixen closer, allowing her head to rest against his as they continued to look up into the night sky. "Sauria might be the only other place they look this good."

"Sauria…" She sighed contently, closing her eyes and nuzzling his neck. "We haven't been there for a while."

"Would you wanna go there?"

"Like that _honeymoon_?" She recalled the joke the Earthwalker had made the last time they were there, causing the vulpine to blush and getting a giggle from her. "Oh come on Fox, I was just kidding! And yeah, I actually do wanna go there."

"Well, we got two weeks."

"Mhm."

_But in truth, I really do wish it was a honeymoon…_She made sure her thought didn't slip out, peeking at the vulpine with one eye. His emerald orbs never left the stars, they stared out into the night sky, seemingly lost in thought.

"Fox?"

"Hm?" He turned to face her, seeing the curious look on her face. "Oh, I was just thinking about the past few days…"

"I see…"

"I've never thought you'd be willing to forgive me." He pulled her closer, continuing to rest his head on hers. "So seeing you here right now, it's like a dream come true."

"Fox…"

"And I'd never thought you would save me either."

"Well." She looked up at the vulpine, giving him a smile as she continued. "Consider it a thank you for saving me nearly three years ago."

"Is that so?" He replied with a playful tone.

"Of course." She answered, " I wouldn't be able to live knowing that my love is dead…" She grimaced as she said the last word.

"It's the same for me. If I had lost you, I wouldn't be able to go on." He gave her a light squeeze with his good arm, his voice a soft tone. She could tell that he spoke each word with complete honesty, she had never heard the vulpine talk like this before and the sincerity in his words only strengthened the vixen's desire to stay with him forever even stronger.

The two continued to sit there in silence, enjoying each other's warmth and the view above them until the vulpine finally made a move, immediately getting up and extending his paw to her as she gave him a confused look.

"I just remembered something." He said, the vixen allowing him to grab her paw and gently pull her to her feet. "This will be interesting."

"What is?"

"Oh, it's just some old memories of mine, just follow me."

He led her into the forest, having the vixen's arm wrapped around his good one as they walked through the woods. He was constantly searching for something as they strolled, his eyes darting from tree to tree until he finally found what he'd been looking for. He was staring directly at a thick oak trunk to their left, an arrow that pointed to the right with what looked like a doodle of an Arwing and a house carved into the bark.

He smiled, the two walking past the oak and following the direction it gave. She wasn't certain what the vulpine had in mind but she trusted him. They soon stopped; her eyes looking up at him to see a smile accompanying the soft look in his eyes. She followed his gaze and saw another opening with a giant oak tree in the middle. This one had a flight of wooden stairs spiraling itself up into the crown where she could see what looked like a window and an open balcony.

"Looks like this place hasn't changed a bit." He commented, inspecting the oak treehouse in front of them and smirking.

"What's this?"

"It's an old hang out my dad and my friends built when we were little. Man, I was still a kit back then!" He took a step forward, the vixen still wrapped around his right arm. "I'll show you around."

They walked up the steps, each one creaking as they stressed to withstand the new weight brought upon them. To their surprise, the flight of stairs held together, but then again his father _had _used the high quality wood to construct this 'hideout' of theirs as the vulpine and his friends called it back then.

"So who did you hang out with here?"

"Falco and Bill, sometimes Slippy." He was the first to reach the entrance into the treehouse, turning around and giving her a paw.

"Hm? I thought you guys met at the academy." She took his paw, allowing him to help her up the last few stairs. That he was still able to show that much strength despite his current injuries surprised the vixen.

"Nah, we were childhood friends."

They entered the old treehouse, the wooden floor here much more sturdy, each step they took feeling as if they were walking on the normal wood planked floor of a house. The vixen glanced around and the first thing she noticed was the space. It was quite roomy despite how small it looked from the outside. It had a nice center area with a wide opening which lead to the balcony and a room on both sides. There was a couch in the corner accompanied by a small wooden table with an old looking lamp on top.

The first thing she did was head for the balcony. As soon as she reached it, the magnificent view of the city greeted her. The suburbs were lit with a pattern of streetlights, leading all the way to the city center where skyscrapers and towers dominated with their own colorful lighting. But what surprised her the most was how clear the stars were even through all the light pollution below. It was a breathtaking combination of city lights and the stars in the sky.

She felt his arms wrap around her waist, leaning on her and resting his muzzle next to her ear. His breath tickled her ear, making it twitch and causing a giggle to escape her.

"You like the view?"

"I love it."

"Glad this didn't disappoint you."

"Of course it wouldn't!" She turned, their muzzles touching as they stared into each other. "But I like this view more."

"So do I." He licked her muzzle, getting a small laugh from her as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"I love you…"

Before he could respond, she pressed her mouth against his, getting a wide-eyed look of surprise from the vulpine. But just a second later, she felt him pushing back, a look of satisfaction washed over the two as they fought to show who loved the other the most. Soon, their muzzles opened further, allowing their tongues to battle each other and taste their partner's kiss that much more.

They could've been in that position for minutes, but they merely held onto the other, savoring this moment of bliss as best as they could. They continued even as their lungs screamed for air, letting the kiss last another few seconds before finally breaking apart, panting. They looked at each other, seeing the satisfaction and love in their expressions and sighing contently.

"That was a kiss worth dying for." He managed between breaths, the vixen still in his arms.

"Agreed." She giggled, leaning against his chest and looked up at the sky. "Mm…I wonder what time is it?"

"What? Are you tired?"

"Not a chance, _sir_!"

"Well, Solar might rise within another hour or two since we spent like three hours walking here." He looked up at the sky, noticing a thin line of orange just above the horizon. "It can't be that long."

They stood on the balcony for a little longer, watching as the first hints of day grew brighter from behind the city. Before the starry night sky disappeared, a shooting star flashed past the darkness, getting a gasp from the vixen. She closed her eyes and clasped her hands together against her chest.

"Hm?" The vulpine hummed, looking over at the vixen as she finished whatever she was doing.

"I saw a shooting star."

"Ooh, you make a wish?"

She simply nodded, turning to face him again. "Mhm!"

"What did you wish for?"

"I wished…" She started as her arms snaked their way around the vulpine. "…That we will be together forever."

"I love that wish." He smiled, his hug tightening a bit. "Mine would be the same."

"What if it was your _last wish_?"

"Then I'd wish for you to be happy and loved, even if I couldn't be there for you."

"No, Fox…I didn't mean-"

"It's alright." He allowed her head to rest against his chest as he brought his good arm up and softly brushed locks of hair away from her face. "But you did say if it was my_ last_ wish."

She frowned, now regretting asking such a question. It ruined a romantic night and replaced the warm feelings she had inside with fear. Fear for losing the vulpine that was holding her. She tried to shake away the fear and thoughts of him dying, not wanting to end this night with such feelings.

_No, he won't die…I won't let that happen._

"Is something wrong?"

She looked up at the vulpine, his soft concerned gaze making her instantly forget about her previous fears and calming her down. Though the thoughts of him dying still resided in the back of her mind, she tried not to show it. Instead she merely shook her head in response to the vulpine's question before looking back at the balcony.

Hues of orange, pink and yellow filled the skies and the stars retreated as Solar rose from the eastern side of the city. They both turned to their left, watching through a perfect opening that showed the vast Cornerian ocean with the star hovering above it. Her blue-green orbs were fixed on the breathtaking sight in front of her, a smile creeping itself over her face as the sky continued to slowly change from night to day,

"I wish I had brought a camera." The vulpine let out a disappointing sigh.

"Why? So you could take a picture of this?"

"Yeah, with you in it."

"Aw." She nuzzled the side of his face before giving him a peck on the cheek, instantly feeling the warmth of his face increasing. "That's so sweet of you."

"Say, let's go to Sauria."

"Now?"

"Maybe in a day or so, we didn't even sleep tonight!"

"True…" She yawned, her whole body now leaning against him and forcing the vulpine to use his good arm to support her. He grimaced as he felt pain gnawing on his arm's injury, causing the vixen to gasp, back away from his chest and focused all of her attention on the wound.

"Sorry! I forgot…"

"No problem, it's getting better."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course!" He managed a cocky grin as he fought against the pain.

The vixen's expression lightened but still held that concerned look as she turned and headed for the door, grabbing his good paw along the way and gently pulling him. They both walked out of the tree house and walked down the flight of stairs, reaching the lush green grassy ground. The forest surrounding the treehouse looked less dense than it was at night. She could see the other glade they came from through the trees.

"Let's go back to the hotel." She hugged his arm, looking up at the vulpine. "We should take a rest."

"Sounds good."

IIIII Later that day IIIII

The wrist com on the nightstand beeped, stirring the two foxes from their slumber. The vulpine groaned, getting up and grabbing it before answering the call. With a tap on the answer key, the holographic head of Peppy popped up from the com.

"Good morning Fox!"

"Hey Peppy, what's the matter?"

"Oh, I was wondering if you could come by and demonstrate something to the new cadets."

"Today?"

"No, tomorrow in the morning."

The vulpine groaned as he stretched his limbs and let out an irritated sigh. He had planned to go to Sauria with Krystal tomorrow but then again, they still had plenty of time. Still, he wanted to spend his whole break with her.

_I'll tell her when she actually wakes up._

He turned and glanced at the half-awake sapphire beauty behind him, the blanket hugging every curve of her body as she yawned and rolled over, letting him stare at her backside as she continued to dream. He wasn't sure if she actually heard them or not but he would tell her anyway. He turned back to the aged hare and nodded.

"Alright Pep."

"Great! I'll meet you at the academy tomorrow at eight."

With that, the signal was cut and the rabbit's head faded away. He set the wrist com back on the nightstand before lying back down on the bed, wrapping his good arm around the vixen and getting a sleepy moan from her and causing him to smile. He watched as she rolled back to face him with a sleepy smile before their mouths connected, immediately surprising him.

He felt her tongue lazily licked his lips as she scooted closer to him. Soon he gave in parted his lips and licked back at her tongue and sparking another little war between their mouths. The kiss lasted a few seconds before she eased back and let out another yawn and moaned.

"Well, good morning." He smiled as she rubbed her eyes.

"Mm…"

"Still sleepy?"

"Yes, what time is it?"

He cursed himself, he forgot about the time. He glanced over at the wrist com, its screen faced the couple and displayed the current time; _11:23 am_. They had slept only five hours since they came back from the hill. He now regretted waking her up and turned back to face her, now meeting her beautiful blue-green eyes.

"Eleven." He muttered. "We only slept for five hours…"

"More sleep…"

"Yeah." He wasn't sure if it was a request or demand, but he answered her anyway.

"But first, tell me what was Peppy talking about."

"Oh…" He sighed. "You heard us?"

She only nuzzled his neck in response, giving him a light squeeze as she did so.

"I guess we have to postpone our little trip to Sauria."

She looked up at him in confusion. "Why?"

"I…Accepted to demonstrate some flight maneuvers to the new cadets at the academy." He tightened the hold on her as he explained. "Sorry…"

"Well, we still have plenty of time…"

He sighed in relief, thankful that she wasn't upset to hear that. He had promised to spend the whole break with her and feared that telling her this would cause her to leave him once again, and he couldn't lie to her either, she would just read his mind and get the answer.

"I'll help you."

"Help me with drilling the cadets? I never knew you had that temper in you." He joked, refere cing how most instructors had a short fuse on their anger.

"Mm…I doubt we'll be doing much shouting when we demonstrate and teach them."

"Yeah…"

"Well, what should we do today?"

"Huh? I thought you wanted to sleep more?"

"Let's start with that then." She spoke with a seductive tone, making his cheeks burn.

"Uh, Krys?"

"No! Not that, you dummy I was joking!" She pouted, reading his thoughts just a second earlier.

"S-sorry…I-"

"Don't worry…I know you didn't mean it." She pressed her muzzle against his, both of them breathing in their mixed scents and savoring it as much as they could.

"Good _day_, Fox." She said in a playful tone, now resting her head against his neck.

"Funny." He plainly said, getting a sleepy chuckle from her.

Within minutes, both foxes fell asleep despite the daylight shining through their window. It would be another long while before they would wake up again.

IIIII

**Author's Note: There you have it! A full chapter focusing on the two foxes. I'm still quite skeptical about how I wrote this and I think could've done this better, I might plan on rewriting this story after it's completed and such. Next up, it seems like Fox will be drilling for a group of cadets, I wonder how does he instruct them...**

**'2,831 words for a chapter involving our two favorite foxes?! This is not enough!' Pretty sure some of you would agree with that. xD**

**Anyways, thanks again Cpt. Fox for beta reading and thank you all who had left reviews last chapter!**

**I appreciate any feedback and critiques, tell me what I could've done or am I going too slow/fast with the story? Leave it in your reviews! Hope you enjoyed this and I'll be back with the next chapter.**


	10. Prove your Worth I

**Author's Note: And here's the next chapter! Time skip of one day. Damn, I just noticed how slow paced this story is. xD 10 chapters for only what? 4 days? I'm surprised you guys aren't bored with it and I thank you all for staying with me. I'm not sure but I did notice a few plot holes in my stories, namely Dash's fate. I'll get to that maybe later in the future. I also find that it felt like I skimmed through this chapter, but I couldn't think of anything else to add. xD**

**Anyways, Cpt. Fox will not beta read for awhile due to technical problems and the busy exams, good luck Fox! Thanks for beta-reading my previous chapters!**

**And thank you all who had reviewed my story up to now, I'll start answering reviews from chapters in the next update within my A/N so if you have any questions, add it to the reviews!**

**Enjoy!**

_**Chapter 10: Prove your Worth I**_

IIIII A day later IIIII

He stepped onto the platform where Peppy had been standing there, waiting for him to come up stage to talk to the recruits below. The vulpine glanced over to the thirty new cadets that were specially picked to form the first Cornerian Arwing Division. Since only Star Fox and other related mercenaries had ever gotten their hands on such advanced fighters, it would be new for the Cornerian Military to use these powerful ships and they needed the best of the best.

He stood beside Peppy as the hare did the introduction. He took this moment to look over at the back of the stage, catching the sapphire vixen's loving gaze and smile, returning them back to her before being jerked back to the front at the mention of his name.

"And now, Fox McCloud here will instruct you on how to pilot the Arwings." The hare announced, stepping back to allow the vulpine go up front.

He cleared his voice, giving the rows of cadets below him a cold glance before walking to the front. "Alright! Listen up!" He shouted, getting their abrupt attention. "All of you must've piloted the standard Cornerian Fighters, am I right?"

There were nods and a small wave of mumbling, causing the vulpine to growl in frustration. This batch of recruits needed more disciplinary lessons if they were to pilot Arwings. He shook his head, letting out a sigh of annoyance before clearing his throat.

"I said!" He yelled with anger at the group below. "Have you all piloted the Cornerian Fighters before?!"

"Sir! Yes sir!" The cadets below answered in unison, a hint of fear evident in their voices except for two.

The vulpine looked to the back of the formation, spotting a silver-grey wolf and a Rottweiler, casually standing instead of the usual stance at attention. Growling in irritation, the vulpine took a step closer to the edge of the platform, pointing straight at the two with his one good arm.

"You two!"

The two at the back looked up at the vulpine, giving him an annoyed look.

_How the hell did these two end up in this division?_

"Pay attention! You'll need to if you want to learn how to pilot an Arw-"

"Yeah, we know, we're listening." The wolf interrupted him with a casual tone. "Besides, how hard could piloting an Arwing be when we could already kick ass piloting Cornerian Fighters?"

"The Arwing –"

"The Arwing has dual control sticks, firing mechanisms, G-Diffuser Manual Ad justification Module for maneuvers, Deflector Generator, Corvette-class G-Diffusers with SDFTE-1700 engines and a Nova bomb storage bay underneath."

Everyone stared at the two cadets with their jaws hanging all except for Fox who growled at them. The vulpine leaped off the platform, landing in a crouch position before walking sternly with his paws curled into fists towards the lupine and canine recruits.

"Knowing the specs of an Arwing doesn't prove you have the skill to fly it." The vulpine, now standing face to face with the wolf, stared into his ice blue eyes with his deep emerald ones, trying his best to look intimidating.

"So do you want a go at it…" The wolf taunted, giving the orange fox a smug look. "…_Captain McCloud_?"

The vulpine turned his head back, looking at the blue vixen who stood there with a serious look. He didn't need to tell her as he felt her mind linked with his.

_Krystal…_

"_Don't worry. If you accept their challenge, you know I'll back you up."_

He smiled at her response, exchanging nods between them before he turned back to the lupine. The wolf stood in wait for an answer from him, arms crossed over his chest and a foot tapping the hard concrete ground of the space port.

"Well?" The wolf cocked an eyebrow.

"I guess it's time to see if your skill in piloting is as good as your knowledge of the ship."

"Oh we'll see…"

"What's your names?" The vulpine's question directed at the two cadets, extending a paw for them to shake.

"Tyson." The wolf replied proudly, shaking his hand with a grin. "Tyson Metz."

"Gordon Wheeler." The canine cadet answered afterward.

"May the best team wins." Fox gestured towards the hangars which housed the mass-produced version of the Arwing and the two recruits started strolling to them.

As they left, the blue vixen walked up to her lover as he turned to face her, wrapping his good arm around her waist as hers snaked their way around his neck. She grimaced as she looked at his other arm still covered in a cast.

"I think I take my words back…" She started, staring down at the cast for a second before looking back up to meet his gaze. "…Your arm-"

"Don't worry about it. I'm still capabable of flying." He slowly moved his injured arm up, gently brushing away her bangs. "I could do this."

She looked away, trying to come up with a rebuttal but ultimately sighed in defeat, she knew all too well how stubborn the vulpine would be when it comes to piloting. She leaned in to share a soft kiss with him before pulling back and the two started walking toward the hangars.

"Fox!" Peppy called out, jogging across the landing fields and stopping the two foxes.

"Peppy?" The vulpine turned, seeing the worried look in his mentor's eyes.

"You never…Listen…" The hare panted, his paws resting on his knees as he spoke. "…You could've just given them disciplinary action…"

"Well, I didn't know and besides…" He turned to look at the two cadets that were already jumping into the fighters' cockpits. "I want to see them in action."

The hare gave him a confused look, not certain if the vulpine meant the recruits or the recently manufactured Arwings, ultimately sighed in defeat and turned around. Taking one step, he looked over his shoulder and gave the two foxes one more weary glance.

"The weapons are not installed yet so it would be an unarmed dogfight." The two foxes nodded in response. "Just be careful you two."

"We will, Peppy." Krystal assured the hare, getting a nod of acknowledgement from him before they parted ways.

It took another minute before they reached the entrance to the parked Arwings inside, stopping there to give each other another embrace before easing back again.

"Just be careful…" She gave the vulpine a concerned look as they neared the open hangars.

"I will."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

With that, they went for the stationed Arwings within the hangar. Instead of the blue color scheme that the team had, these Cornerian variants were outlined in green. He could tell these mass-produced versions would probably lack some features that the Star Fox exclusive ones had. Either it was the ability to barrel roll and deflect enemy fire or the capacity to use nova bombs, he had no idea.

The vulpine took a minute to inspect the fighter, having not used the first Arwing for a long time. It reminded him about the old days when he had piloted one. He was certain that he hadn't lost any memories of how the controls worked on the old variant during his time piloting the Arwing II. Nodding to himself, he climbed up the wing and jumped into the cockpit. He raised an eyebrow in amusement.

Apparently, the Military variant had only one joystick instead of two. He checked the rest of the control panel, seeing that nothing else seemed to have been changed and sighed.

_Well…I guess this would be easier for me now._

He sat in the seat, flicking on the switches to the fighter's OS and started the engine. It hummed as it started to heat up, sounding beeps and other noises that indicated all systems were online and ready. The vulpine took this moment to look to his left, seeing the blue vixen do the same before meeting his gaze, smiling.

He smiled back and nodded, double checking one more time before taking a deep breath and eased his good hand on the controls. Slowly, the craft hovered and left the hangar before rising up to the sky followed by Krystal's.

"All systems checked, ready to go." Her voice sounded from the com within the control panel.

"Same here." A beep sounded on his scanner, directing his attention to the two red dots approaching on his radar. "Here they come."

"Be careful Fox." She said with a concerned tone.

"Don't worry." He looked up ahead, spotting two green specks growing bigger at the distance. "It's just a small unarmed dogfight."

IIIII Meanwhile IIIII

"This is Ferris Space Control, approaching crafts identify yourselves." The stern voice of the canid operator shot out of Wolf's com.

"This is Star Wolf." The lupine grunted as the two Wolfens entered the planet's atmosphere without permission.

"Confirmed, land in hangar ZA-9." The operator replied with a shaky voice.

With that, the com link was cut. Wolf switched the channel back to the other Wolfen as they continued to surge through the hot thermosphere, the nose of their crafts glowed orange from the heat. Soon the hiss-like voice of the chameleon started to speak up.

"I never thought you'd consider this."

"As if we had any other choice." The lupine replied, angry but calm.

"Disbanding?"

"No."

"Heh, whatever." The reptile hissed, ending the com link as they descended through the hazel clouds.

Soon, they were flying over the vast ocean of the water world, not a single island was in sight for the next ten minutes before they spotted their destination up ahead. The shape of an island grew with each mile they zipped past until they could see the details of the island and the cruising naval ships and ferries in the waters around it.

The small town of Ferris sits at the bay of the crescent-shaped island, dark green tropical trees surrounded the settlement like a blanket. This was the place for outlaws, pirates and all sorts of underground activities. The two Wolfens circled the island for a minute before landing on the rough ground of the cheap space port.

Killing off the engines, the two stepped out of their crafts as the dock workers scrambled to the two fighters, refueling and other sorts of mechanical works. They walked out of the small port, glancing around the town before walking down one of the roads.

It didn't take them long before they stopped in front of an old looking tavern. The windows were barred up and the doors hung open and broken. The neon sign above the entrance flickered ever so slightly each second with the word _Tanker's_.

They entered, their boots thumped every step as they walked across the wooden floor. Animals in the bar would occasionally shoot glares or looks of fear at the pair while they sat at one of the tables. News of their team needing new wingmen had already been spread throughout the system within one day's time, it wouldn't take long before some overly proud pilots come around to try and join them.

Wolf glanced around, expecting the first of those animals to come up to them within the next minute and he was right. Out of the crowd came a she-wolf with an unusual fur color, an incredibly dark shade of purple, nearly at a point where it would be black. She looked about the same age as Krystal, in her early twenties. Her bright amber eyes never moved, fixing on the two as she walked over to them with her tail swinging side to side every step.

Her flight suit hugged her every curve, showing off her fit form beautifully. Wolf raised an eyebrow as she continued to approach them, shooting him a seductive smile. Leon noticed this, giving his lupine partner a smirk before turning his attention back at the she-wolf that was now only three steps away from them.

"I heard you boys need new pilots for your crew." She stood at their table, bending down and placing both paws on the table.

"What makes you think you got what it takes?" O'Donnell leaned back, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Hm. Good question…" She hummed, standing back up and walked over to him. "I've got something that might worth you a while."

She reached to the back pocket of her flight suit, pulling out what appears to be a memory stick of some kind. It was smaller than usual and etched on it was a symbol the two mercenaries were unfamiliar with. Though the lupine recognized a part of the symbol; a green orb with two hands, Androssian. He looked back up at the she-wolf, giving her a look of confusion.

"And how does that worth us awhile?"

"I thought you'd like to get even with that past member of yours…What's his name…" She tapped her chin, looking up thoughtfully. "Panther Carrier? Ca-"

"Caroso. Yeah…That sounds good, but not good enough." Leon interrupted. "What else you got?"

"Do you guys need a good mechanic?"

The two males exchanged glances. They do in fact, ever since Pigma's betrayal and death, their team's ships were never really maintained well. Even with the help of their downright retarded minions doing all the repairs, they never actually been able to fix it completely. Always getting gas leaks, engine problems or loose attachments from time to time, and due to those problems, they try to fly as little as possible to do minimum damage to their Wolfens.

"Are you?"

She laughed, waving it off. "Darling _please_. Do I look like an engineer to you?" After getting no answer from the two, she sighed. "I got a friend, he's the best mechanic I've known."

"Well, if he's here, bring him to us."

She smiled, nodding and turned around whistling. "Chimp!"

As soon as she hollered, out came a chimpanzee. He jogged his way to the three, accidentally bumping into a few of the people that were in his way, apologizing as he did so. It took him another few seconds before he made it to their table, scratching the back of his head and giving them an awkward smile.

"H-Hello."

"So you're that mechanic?"

"Y-Yes, sir." The primate nodded, quivering slightly.

Wolf gave the two a smug look, doubt still fresh in his mind as he continued to look over the two standing. If they were to join their crew, they would need to prove themselves that they have the right skillset to join them, he could care less about their appearance or attitude.

"Both of you are good pilots?" Leon leaned forward, his arms crossed on the table.

"Yes." The she-wolf grinned.

"What's your name?" Wolf asked, cocking his head.

"Rina Woods."

He turned to the simian. "You?"

"Ch-Chimp Arnold, s-sir." The ape stuttered.

"Hm. Follow us, you're gonna fix our ships."

"W-What kind of ships are t-they?"

"Wolfens." Leon answered him, standing up as did his lupine partner.

"I-I can handle i-it." The primate grinned.

"Good, let's get going then." Wolf nodded and the four left the pub, heading back to the space port.

_An overconfident lass and a monkey that looked like he would faint from a small peek-a-boo scare…Great._

IIIII

"Fox! Behind you!" Krystal's voice hissed through the com as the vulpine flew around the control tower.

He did a sharp loop, hoping that his adversary would fall for the trick. Fortunately for him, the Military variant of the Arwing could do _most _of the stunts that the vulpine could think of. As he looped, he looked out to see the other green fighter flew past him.

He grinned, tailing the enemy as soon as his loop was finished. The locking system focused on his target as they continued to fly across the Cornerian City Spaceport, dodging other aircrafts and ships. He watched on the targeting screen as the green circle slowly made its way to the orange square fixed on the enemy Arwing.

_Come on…_

To his dismay, his adversary made a sharp turn to the right and escaped his sights. He growled in frustration, forcing his control to the right and tried to lock on to his target again only to be flanked by another enemy.

"Damn it!" Fox cursed, barrel rolling to the left to avoid his pursuer.

"I'm coming Fox!" The blue vixen spoke loud, diving nose down at the dogfight below and cutting in between the two enemies, diverting their attention to her.

"Great, now I gotta save you." He muttered, hearing her sweet laugh from the com and smiled.

IIIII

The four reached the hangar where the Wolfens were stationed. Only now did the two pilots see how worn down their ships were. Scorched laser marks littered the hulls of both ships, their engine rims were black and burnt from the exhaust and their wings were at the point of ripping off.

"W-Well…" The chimp inspected the ships, walking around and stroking the goatee under his chin. "T-this won't take l-long."

The two pilots exchanged confused looks. They weren't expecting such a casual answer from the chimp, even if he stuttered, it sounded as if fixing their Wolfens was as easy as assembling a simple puzzle. They watched as the chimp got to work, Rina just leaned at the entrance smirking.

Chimp continued moving back and forth between the maintenance equipment left by the dock workers and the two Wolfens, cutting off the worn out wings and quickly running to the back of the hangar where spare parts of various ships were piled. The ape showed extraordinary strength, hefting two wing plates that were twice the size of him back to the two fighters and quickly attaching the new wings onto the bodies.

_Well, he got the strength. That's for sure._

Wolf and Leon were impressed, joining the she-wolf at the entrance as they continued to watch the lone primate do all the work. It felt faster than they had imagined as Chimp made a final check through both Wolfens before nodding and jogging back to the three. The lupine pilot glanced at his wrist com, surprised by the short period it took; three hours.

"Th-They're ready, s-sir." The primate bowed before stepping aside for the two pilots.

They still had their doubts on the primate's work. Walking around their ships and inspecting the newly restored Wolfens before a satisfied look appeared on both their faces, jumping into their cockpits and tested out the engines and controls.

Surprisingly, they didn't hear their engines humming to life, they heard them _growl_ to life with full force. Wolf couldn't help but grin at the sound but it soon faded, he had yet to do a test flight. The lupine double checked his systems before pulling his controls back, lifting his Wolfen off the hangar floor and laughed triumphantly as he noticed no whining sounds or any that indicated it was still at a flaw.

_Perfect!_

He looked over to his left, seeing Leon having the same expression as his craft hovered over the floor and smirked. Both of their crafts were now at their full potential and he couldn't wait to test them outside in the sky.

Just as he thought of that, he noticed a change in lighting within the hangar followed by a low hum, causing him to look at the front only to be met by a Venomian interceptor floating in front with its armaments pointed at them. His eyes slowly grew wider as the realization sank in, instinctively he shouted over the com.

"Leon!"

"I know!"

Four bursts of red shot out from the interceptor, charging directly at the two hovering Wolfens. They both instinctively did a barrel roll, deflecting all the shots. But before they could return fire, the interceptor abruptly turned and blasted off.

"Panther sends his regards!" A mysterious voice cackled through their coms.

Wolf growled, looking down to see his two new recruits hiding behind a few supply crates for cover with their blasters out. He instantly punched a key, opening the canopy and stood up from his seat.

"You two!" He shouted. "Get to your ships and meet us out there!"

The she-wolf looked up and nodded, grabbing the monkey by the arm and exited the hangar, blaster still in their hands as they disappeared out of their sight. He quickly closed the canopy, opening up his com and turned his head to the chameleon.

"Let's rock and roll."

"Time for some fun…" Leon's voice replied.

The two Wolfens growled as the exhaust built up before the two crafts shot out within a second, ascending into the skies with ease and leaving a trail of light violet.

IIIII

**Author's Note: Yeah, this chapter is mainly to introduce four OCs that will play a major part in my stories. And as you can see, now we have Star Wolf getting more involved in the story and a lot of possibilities being shown. Well, that's my point of view anyways. I'm finally getting back with the average amount of words; 3,300+ on this chapter. (3,458) And look at that, more dogfights and the start of another string of action!**

**Please review and give me feedback and again, I'll start answering questions given in reviews on this chapter through the A/N in the next.**


	11. Prove your Worth II

_****_**Author's Note: Well, here's the next chapter. I'm sorry for keeping you guys waiting for so long, I was sorting things out for the past few days. Anyways, you guys had chosen the choice, it was choice number two! So I'll be continuing this and THEN see the results before considering a rewritten version of this story. Also, because when I posted the 'Rewrite?' within 24 hours after publishing chapter 10, I was wondering if any of you would have missed it. If you did, be sure to read that part and leave a review.**

**When I removed the notice, I was also hoping that it would remove the reviews posted with that notice. Because to be honest, it made me look like an attention whore when in truth, I was just trying to get you guys' opinion on the situation. Anyways, hopefully this chapter won't disappoint you! I did feel like I skimmed through this A LOT. Like more than usual.**

**So if it doesn't disappoint you, hope you've enjoyed this and leave a review!**

_**Chapter 11: Prove Your Worth II**_

The surface of the water rippled open as the two Wolfens flew only mere meters above it. The pilots within tracked patiently on their prey ahead of them which was not long of a distance away. Aside from pursuing the interceptor that had tried to ambush them inside the hangar, they were also waiting for the two new crew members to catch up to them. The primate known as Chimp had shown his skills in mechanical engineering earlier by fixing their fighters but the she-wolf had yet to prove her abilities, only giving them a strange clue to what Panther was up to.

Now though, they were on another lead. The two chased the enemy in front, having to blurt out '_Panther sends his regards!_' just after trying to take them out with his low standard laser cannons. This was also a good chance to see if their new recruits have what it takes to join them. Piloting.

"Bogey six kilometers." The chameleon's voice hissed through the com as they continued to fly low over the oceans of Zoness.

"Accelerate speed." The lupine replied with a commanding tone.

"What about the rookies?" A pause was followed after the reptile asked as the radar blinked two reds from behind them. "Oh."

"Sorry to be late." A female voice sounded through. "Jeeze, your hangar was like on the other side of the space port!"

"Forget about it, Rina." The wolf growled, looking straight ahead as a black dot appeared above the horizon. "Prove your flying skills, get that pest! Both of you!"

"Fine by me." She casually said. If he could see her, she'd probably shrugging and it only amused him more as she was another one besides Leon and Fox who were not the least bit intimidated by him. "Chimp! Let's go!"

"R-right away!"

As soon as the com link was cut, two Zonessian fighters flew over the Wolfens, barrel rolling a few times before blasting their engines to full and shot forward a mile or two within a blink of an eye. The lupine couldn't help but admit that was quite impressive, letting out a smirk as him and Leon continued at their current pace.

"I guess that wasn't too bad, eh Wolf?" The reptilian remarked.

"Not bad at all." He leaned back and stifled a yawn. "Let's catch up to them."

"Roger."

The two Wolfens charged their own engines before bursting to full speed immediately. Soon, they spotted the two rookie ships in a dogfight with the Venomian. One of the Zonessians did a loop, diving back behind the interceptor before letting out a volley of red at the enemy. But the victim proved to be smarter than they anticipated, quickly dodging the shots and banked left. Only when he was facing his pursuer did he started firing his own lasers. Luckily, the rookie fighter was smart enough to barrel roll away from them, allowing the sickly green streaks hit harmlessly into the sea.

The other Zonessian craft attempted to dive at the enemy, releasing several bursts of red laser at the interceptor only to miss the target, allowing it to escape. The Venomian quickly arched up, ascending quickly into the sky. It only took the lupine a second to realize what the enemy was up to, quickly jamming his finger into the com system.

"Chase that bastard down! Don't let him get away!"

Without hesitation, all four of Star Wolf shot upward to chase down their escaping prey.

IIIII

"Krystal! Above you!" The vulpine's voiced cracked from the com, alerting the blue vixen and causing her to look up.

Blinded by Solar, she decided not to look up and bank to the right immediately hearing a content beep from her radar, signaling that she had safely avoided the enemy's target lock. She sighed in relief but quickly focused her attention back to her surrounding airspace, her eyes darted around in search of any fighters and glancing down at the radar occasionally.

"Where are they…" She muttered as she continued to search everywhere. Another minute later she sighed in frustration and signaled to her mate. "Fox, I can't find any of them!"

"Same here." Came the vulpine's reply through the com. "They're better than I'd thought. I guess- Krystal! Four O'clock!"

She instantly barrel rolled to the left and turned sharply to the right, looking out to see the green outlined Arwing outside. She cursed herself, noticing now that she was in a vulnerable position. Without hesitating, the vixen jammed her control stick downward, causing her to dive down nose first. She hoped that the trick would work as she checked the altitude meter and watched it rapidly count down in number.

_Come on…_

Fourteen thousand meters… The alarm for a lock on her was turned on, telling her that she was within targeting range of the enemy's. She growled as the G force pushed her up into her cockpit's seat as her Arwing continued to dive.

Twelve thousand meters… Her alarm stopped, causing her to sigh in relief and ease a bit. But quickly, she noticed Fox's fighter and his pursuer coming from her right, they seemed to be much more lower than her. She suddenly thought up an idea, quickly tapping in on the com.

"Fox! I got a plan!"

"Really? That's great! But we gotta pull it off fast!" The vulpine replied, the vixen noticed that he sounded exhausted.

"Keep flying forward."

"What?"

"I said keep flying forward!" She growled at him.

"Alright! Alright!"

Nine thousand meters… Within the next few seconds, she had calculated her lock precision on the enemy and chances of avoiding collision. She looked back out at the two approaching fighters, she estimated them to be at five thousand meters above ground level.

_Only four thousand meters to pull up back into the sky with this much speed…_

It would've been enough for her Cloudrunner or Wolfen but for this mass-produced variant of the Arwing, she wasn't so sure. Noticing how the power and maneuverability of it were not as great as the ones owned by Star Fox or any mercenary teams who were able to afford them, she'd have to make changes to her plans.

Eighty-five hundred meters… She tilted the controls, causing her cockpit to face the approaching crafts. But just as she did, her radar started to change to red and letting out an alarm, causing her to look down at it and find herself being locked again.

_Oh no… I gotta do something-_

Seven thousand meters… "Krys!" The vulpine called out from the com.

She didn't respond to him, pulling her controls back and trying her best to raise the nose of her Arwing up while looking down at her targeting system screen to see as the crosshair started to rise up as well. The hull groaned as it was forced to point up from its nose dive.

Six thousand meters… The targeting system's pre-lock indicator was placed on Fox's pursuer, now she needed to time it just right to finish the enemy and avoid being locked by her own pursuer. She thought she heard the metal hull of her Arwing began ripping as she leveled down into a slower descent at a slope angle but she ignored it, focusing entirely on the target screen.

_This is it!_

_Beep! _She had a lock on the enemy on Fox's tail, instantly jamming her thumb on the firing mechanism and saw the crosshair turn green, words popped out from the 'hit' fighter reading _Target Destroyed_. But she didn't cheer right away, immediately doing a barrel roll to avoid being locked on by her pursuer. She watched as the vulpine's Arwing flew under her and arched up once he was past her.

IIIII

The vulpine had known the enemy chasing the vixen, immediately after hearing a beep confirming that the enemy behind him was knocked out of the game did he pulled on the joystick with full force and causing him to arch up behind the vixen as she shot over him. The last one pursuing her didn't have the time to react as the fox so suddenly turned his attention to him.

He instantly targeted his new adversary, a sly smile spread across his muzzle as he did so. Not even a second later, the targeting system beeped causing him to instinctively press the firing button on his joystick.

"Aw man…" A male voice came out afterwards. "This is Gordon, I'm hit."

"Tyson here…" Another voice spoke through the com though it sounded more like a growl. "Game over…"

The vulpine grinned triumphantly as he leveled his craft down to meet up with the vixen's. Flying side by side, the vulpine looked over to his mate through the canopy, seeing her doing the same and exchanged smiles.

"Well, shall we land?" Krystal's voice spoke through the com.

As if to answer the vixen, a new com channel was opened and out came another voice. "Port control to the four Arwings; Hangar U-7 is clear for landing, please proceed."

"This is…" He looked over to his right, attempting to see the number and symbol painted on the wing of the craft and smiled as he recognized them. "This is Bulldog Eleven, we read you. Proceeding to land."

The runway lit up as Solar had begun setting down on the horizon. The sky was now turning into its evening colors as night was approaching. Steadying his craft's G-Diffusers and wing stabilizers, the vulpine slowly descended down towards the port. Only when he was certain he was meters from hitting the concrete ground did he stopped and hovered his way to the hangar followed by the other three Arwings.

Flicking off the systems as his fighter touched the hangar floor, he killed off the engine before opening up the canopy and jumped onto the wing, turning around to face the vixen's craft. He watched as she landed before leaping from the wing and walked over to help her out, extending his right hand to her as she stood up from the cockpit giggling.

"My, what a gentleman." She smiled at him sweetly, accepting his paw and gently hopped down from the craft.

"Always." He returned the smile before giving her a soft kiss.

After a few seconds, they eased back from the embrace, looking over to the other side as the remaining two Arwings landed. The first pilot to get out shouted out a curse and threw his head gear onto the floor. Fox stared at the silver lupine for a moment before walking over to them followed by the blue vixen.

Tyson was now bent down, his paws digging into the kneepads of his flight suit and glaring down at the floor with a growl. Hearing the footsteps coming from his right, he jerked his head to that direction and spotted the two foxes walking towards them as Gordon the Rottweiler jogged to him from the left.

"What do you want?" He growled at the couple, his blue eyes stared into the vulpine's emerald gaze.

He didn't answer him. Instead, the vulpine took a few steps forward and extended his good paw to him. The lupine only stared at the hand in confusion, looking back up to the fox only to see a friendly smile on his face.

"You did a good job, cadet." Fox complimented. "It was a fun dog fight out there."

The lupine only continued to stare at him. Standing back up, he took the vulpine's paw and shook it. He was quite surprised at the lupine for doing so. Throughout the whole day, the wolf's attitude had clearly shown that the cadet wouldn't accept a single loss. When he extended his paw to him for a shake, he was half expecting the wolf to strike at him with a fist. But apparently, the lupine still have some manners.

"I hope the next time we will be fighting alongside each other." The vulpine continued, looking up to see that the lupine had calmed down. "I take that back, the time when I said you two were not capable of piloting."

The lupine smirked, ending the handshake. "Well, I hope before then, we'd get to have another one of these fights. Maybe then, I'll win ya."

"That'll be a promise." The vulpine grinned.

Soon the other cadets along with Peppy rushed to the hangar, shouting out their names as they neared them. While the recruits all gathered around the wolf and canine, the General went over to the fox pair, stopping in front of them as he sighed in relief.

"My goodness, Fox!" The aged hare started. "I-I thought that…"

"I'm fine Pep." The vulpine reassured his mentor, moving his casted and bandaged arm to show that he was fine. "You see?"

The two of them stared at the vulpine, their jaws half-open. He only gave them a confused look in return, his emerald eyes going back and forth between the two before shrugging.

"What?"

"Fox…" Krystal gasped. "You arm…It's...Healed?"

"What? Healed?" He shook his head, uncertain what the vixen meant until he noticed that he felt no pain when he moved his injured arm. "Uh…Let's go to the medical bay first and check…"

They nodded in agreement. Peppy took a moment to call out to the closest commanding officer, asking him to watch over the group of cadets before the three started to walk out of the hangar and headed to the military complex within the port.

After a quarter of an hour later, they reached the military complex, the same group of buildings they had visited when they landed only two days ago. The General led them to one of the medium sized buildings next to the barracks. The place seemed more like an official hospital than a simple medical bay. Having many rooms where patients could sleep in and having more medical supplies and equipment than what they needed at the moment.

"Doctor Heathers!" Peppy called out as soon as they entered the building and out came a dove from the hall to their right.

"General?" She gasped. "Sir! I-"

"Don't worry, I need you to check on him first." He pointed to the vulpine. Fox didn't know what to do, rubbing the back of his head and looking around in confusion.

"Right away sir!"

Soon, they were waiting in one of the patient rooms. The vulpine sitting on the bed with the vixen beside him and the aging rabbit pacing about as they waited for the white avian to return with a saw to open up the cast. Soon enough, the dove returned with the right tool.

"Alright , I need you to sit here." The bird patted on the arm of a metal framed chair. "And place your arm here."

Looking at the razor sharp blade of the cast opener, the vulpine gulped down his own saliva as he obeyed the doctor, walking over to her and plopping down on the chair and placed his cast on the arm of the chair as instructed. Powering up the tool, the dove tested the spinning blade to see if it was stuck or anything. Content to see the razor spinning without stopping, she began to cut open the hardened cast.

His injured arm was given the cast in the morning of Remembrance Day when he visited one of the hospital as they tried to avoid the paparazzi chasing them. Since he had it, he felt immobile and vulnerable as he was unable to move his left arm much.

He winced as the screeching sound of the blade sawed its way through the cast, fearing that the dove would accidentally slip or something and slice off his arm or do another major damage to it. But it was over within seconds, the hard white shell cracked open, the doctor slowly removed it and gasped followed by the vixen and hare.

There were no trace of his past injury left on his arm, as if he never had them. Though there were still dried blood on the insides of the cast, but other than that there were no other hints to show that the wound ever existed. Everyone was surprised, especially Fox.

_How the hell…?_

He looked up at them to see the same expression he had. After a second, the hare lifted his gaze to the vulpine, expecting him for an explanation to it. He could only open his mouth and close it shut, unable to speak out anything at the moment. He turned to face the vixen, she held a mix of surprise and happiness, though he was certain the joy from her was because his arm was healed. But there was still something more to that as he could see in her eyes.

"Krystal?"

"Wh-Wha?" She shook her head before meeting the vulpine's gaze.

"Do you have anything to do with this?" He lifted his left arm, flexing it and examining it, still doubting that his arm was fully healed.

"No. I'm a telepath but I'm definitely _not _a healer." She replied, stuttering on the last part. "I-I mean yes, I am actually capable of healing but not at such a fast rate."

"This is just strange…" The dove studied his arm closely. "If I may, I'd like for you to stay at this facility for a while so I could see what caused this."

"I'm sorry, , but I have no intentions of spending my days off work to be stuck inside a lab to be studied." The vulpine looked over to the vixen once again, smiling.

She returned the smile, knowing well what they were going to do the next day. The vulpine stood up, causing the doctor to take a step back to allow room for him. He stretched both his arms and once again tested his left, flexing and bending the joints of the limb. Satisfied that it was in perfect shape, he turned to the rabbit, getting a nod from him.

"If that's the case, I don't think doctor here would mind." The hare shrugged before shooting a sharp gaze at the white avian, getting a squawk and a nod from her.

"Well then, I guess we'll be back after a week or so…" The vulpine said, grabbing the vixen by the waist and pulling her to him, getting a squeal from her before his other arm made its way to her back.

"Where are you two going?" The General asked.

"Sauria." Krystal replied, her eyes still locked with the vulpine's.

"I'm guessing you'll want a private flight to the planet?"

"Yes. That would be the best."

"Alright then." Peppy sighed, stroking the fur on his muzzle as he continued. "As much as I want you two to stay on Corneria during your break, I can tell that I couldn't stop you two because you're not under direct military command. And it's also because you two and the rest of the team are like a part of my family."

"So…"

"So, I'll get a small shuttle you two could borrow for the trip." He smiled at the vulpine couple as they looked back at him in joy and excitement.

"Thanks Peppy." Fox grinned, walking up to the rabbit and hugged him.

"No need to. Besides, it's your break. I did say you should enjoy it." The General chuckled, returning the hug. "To be honest though, you barely even give any instructions to the cadets."

"Oh…Uh…"

"But the dogfight you had is probably enough of a demonstration…I think."

"Who will train them now?"

"I'll call Falco to see if he's up for the task." The aged hare said, tapping his chin. "Though he'd probably won't like this. Anyways, you two should go back to the hotel and get some sleep."

The two foxes nodded, voicing their departing words before leaving the military complex. While walking to where their hover taxi waited, the vulpine couldn't help but continued to examine his fully healed arm, studying it closely as if his arm would return to its wounded state or worse any moment. But his attention was focused back to the vixen as she rested her head on his shoulder, smiling.

"Mm…I can't wait to go back there." She hummed.

"Me too." He pulled her closer as they strolled down the vast air fields of the space port.

IIIII

**Author's Note: Well, that was something. Fox having insanely fast regeneration rate? A sign of a Cerinian or something? Who would know! Find out in the future chapters!**

**I hope this chapter didn't let you guys down or anything, the next chapter will be mostly focusing on Star Wolf if not the whole chapter. I'd also inform that the Bill/Fay story 'The Pilot and the Musician' will be postponed until I finish 'Last Wish' and the short story 'Into the Night' will take its place because it's WAY shorter and more fun to write with. But those of you who liked the Bill/Fay story and want me to continue, I can still release at least two more chapters that are actually half finished before putting it on hold.**

**Anyways, hope you enjoyed this chapter and as always, I appreciate feedback and reviews! And if you haven't reviewed chapter 10 and would like to, please do so! :)**

**Words: 3400 without ANs.**


	12. Panic

_****_**Author's Note: Well, here's the next chapter. Here, the chapter is focused only on Star Wolf because they will play an important part in the story. Basically a second bracket of main characters(If THAT even made sense...I made that up..) Sorry to take so long to upload a chapter for 'Last Wish' it's just that I'm a bit scared that I might screw up the story so I rewrote this chapter probably six times already until I felt content. This is a short chapter, roughly 2,577 words in total excluding the A/N.**

**Again, I thank those of you who had reviewed the last chapter! If you haven't seen chapter 11, please do so to follow up. I'm still left wondering if I should change the genre of this story since now there's barely any drama left. But there are some romance in here...Still.**

**Anyway, I appreciate any reviews, feedbacks and critiques! Enjoy!**

_**Chapter 12: Panic**_

There wasn't much to see in the sky of Zoness, only a thick layer of polluted clouds that seemed to cover the entire planet. But soon, the calm sky was stirred as an interceptor shot through the thick layer of clouds followed by a volley of red lasers. Not even a second later, four more crafts burst through the opening made by their prey, shooting a few more shots at the fleeing enemy only to miss the target.

"This bastard is an ace." Leon's voice hissed through the com as they continued to chase down the Venomian fighter.

"Come on damn you!" Wolf growled as he fired another burst at the enemy, missing it by a few meters. "Hit! Son of a-"

The interceptor suddenly did a half loop and flew at its four pursuers upside-down, firing its own volley of laser. Barely able to react in time, the two Wolfens barrel rolled and successfully deflected the shots but the others weren't so lucky. One of the Zonessian fighters banked left and singed its wing from enemy fire.

"I'm hit!" Rina called out as her fighter tilted left and right, trying to balance itself as it descended.

"Use your G-Diffuser to keep yourself up!" Wolf shouted in reply to the she-wolf.

"It's on, but It'll only keep me at a lower altitude." He heard her sigh through the com channel. "Sorry boys, I'll be flying low."

Her fighter disappeared into the clouds as she finished her sentence. The lupine pilot growled in frustration as he and the remaining two fighters continued to trade laser fire with the enemy interceptor. He jammed his controls forward and then pulled up, looping around so he could get a clear shot at the enemy only to see his fellow wingmen fighting at close range with the enemy, causing him to growl and continue to fly around until he could spot an opening.

"Get out of my damn way!" Finally lost his patience, the lupine pilot charged his craft at the three fighters.

His two wingmen broke away, leaving the interceptor alone in a daze of confusion. He took this opportunity, pressing the firing mechanism but holding onto it as his Wolfen's nose glowed red and continued to build up the charge. He looked straight ahead grinning as the interceptor continued to hover for a second, giving him time to lock onto it.

Locked on, the lupine released the trigger and a blindingly bright bolt shot out and curved its way to the target. The enemy only had a second to realize what was coming for him and immediately banked left but was unfortunate as the ball of laser impacted on its right engine, causing a huge explosion. Star Wolf watched as their enemy plunged downward through the cloud level.

As the burning debris fell, the wolf noticed the enemy's cockpit was still intact. Watching as it disappeared through the clouds, he signaled all of his wingmen.

"The pilot's probably still alive. Rina, do you see the falling wreckage?"

There was a second pause until the she-wolf had answered. "Yeah, it's landing on a small deserted island."

"Go there, we'll catch up to you."

"Roger that." The she-wolf killed her line to the com channel after she answered.

"You really think that bastard would still be alive?" Leon's voice spoke through the com.

"Maybe…" Wolf answered, staring down at the clouds for a moment. "Let's get moving."

With that, all three fighters started their descent, passing the mist before being greeted by the green sea of Zoness followed by a small rocky piece of land with smoke fuming out. The lupine spotted Rina's fighter circling the island as they continued to decrease their altitude, he had been growing an interest on her. Not in an attracting way though. The lupine had always thought her attitude was quite unique since she had asked to join. But since she was the only one that was shot down, the lupine had doubts about letting her in.

Soon, all four of them had regrouped, circling around the island to get a look at the crash site. As expected, the cockpit was intact, lying on its side while the rest of the burning wreckage surrounded it. He smirked as he saw the canopy burst open before a figure stumbled out, taking a few steps before collapsing onto the rocky surface of the island. But before his body reached the ground, something slipped out of his hand. Deciding he had watched enough, the lupine pilot opened the com channel to the others.

"Let's land." He started descending as the rest of his team answered.

Landing a few meters away from the enemy pilot, he could now see more details on his downed adversary. From the shape of his body and his helmet which shielded his facial features to the ringed tail that was covering a part of his injured leg, the foe was a raccoon. As he killed the engine, Wolf opened the canopy despite the warning alarms going off as the engine was still shutting down. Ignoring it, the lupine jumped out of his fighter and made his way to the crippled pilot.

Stopping right in front of the figure as he kept dragging himself, the lupine kicked him, flipping the injured raccoon onto his back and letting out a painful gasp. Wasting no time, the wolf tore his helmet off, revealing his enemy's face to the harsh sea wind in the process. Surprisingly, the crippled pilot was smirking as his old grey eyes fixed themselves on the lupine that towered over his broken form before letting out a small chuckle.

"What's so funny?" Wolf growled.

The raccoon didn't answer vocally, stopping his choking laugh and continuing to smirk at the lupine before his eyes darted over to the small device that he'd dropped earlier. Soon, the rest of the team had made their way to the lupine. They had all landed at the Cliffside of the rocky island since there wasn't enough space near the crash site for all of them to land. Noticing his wingmen were approaching, he looked over his shoulder, his artificial eye caused them to stop in their place.

"Search the wreckage, I'll handle him."

The three nodded and split up, looking at different parts of the wrecked interceptor for anything that could be of any clue to any information about Panther's lackeys.

"Your search is in vain…" The raccoon finally choked out, letting out another weak laugh.

The lupine turned around, spotting the small device that was right beside his boot. He bent down to grab it, studying the strange thing for a second before realizing it was a holo-communicator. The green light faintly glowed, probably damaged during the crash. He switched it on and instantly, the head of a black furred feline appeared.

"Panther…" Wolf snarled as he glared at the hologram, only getting a snicker as a response.

"A pleasant meeting it is, Wolf."

"Cut your bullshit sarcasm, you don't know what you're up against." The lupine retorted, suppressing another growl as his grip on the holo-com grew tighter, slightly crumpling the fragile device and causing the hologram to spas out a bit.

"Oh, I know_ exactly _what I'm up against, my dear friend." The feline replied with a gentle laugh. "You're the least of my concern."

"Why you-"

"Oh, you know…I have heard that an ally of mine had just paid your little floating rubble you called a hideout a visit."

The lupine's eyes widened as the realization sank in. Unable to control his anger and dread, he crushed the holo-com effortlessly, the hologram of the black cat's head fading with it. He stood there for another moment, before looking back down at the raccoon who was still holding that smug look he had since the lupine had arrived.

"You're…Fools…All of…You…" The crippled pilot managed through painful breaths and allowing another weak laugh.

Not bothering to even respond to the dying pilot, he immediately drew out his blaster and pointed it at the raccoon, causing him to look directly at the muzzle in silence. Fear laced his features as he stared at the deadly weapon for a second before looking back up only to meet the wolf's hateful glare.

"Wait…I-" He was cut off, followed by a flow of a laser shot and the sizzling of something that had been burnt.

Another moment later, the lupine holstered his gun, not bothering to take a second glance he turned and swiftly walked away from the lifeless carcass of his foe. To be honest, he did the poor bastard a favor, ending his miserable life. But soon, he had all forgotten about the raccoon, his mind only focused on one thing as the rest of the team halted their scavenging and looked at the tensed lupine. He stopped, eyeing each of his teammates.

"We need to get back to Sargasso, _now_!"

"My fighter's G-diffusers are damaged." The she-wolf gave the male a confused look. "What's the hurry?"

"Something bad." Leon stepped beside her, crossing his arms across the chest as they watched the lupine paced quickly to his Wolfen. "Let's go. I saw that Chimp's craft have an extra passenger seat. You should ride with him." With that, the reptile left the she-wolf as she sighed in frustration.

"Well…No other choice." She shook her head before looking back up to find the primate. "Chimp!"

IIIII

The three fighters continued to race through the dark void of space, pushing their engines to the max and not wasting a second to even slow down for a breath. The she-wolf sat behind the simian, eyeing the lupine's Wolfen to the right and deep in thought.

_Now…Why would he be so tense? Well…Besides getting pissed. He's not, he seemed…Scared…_

She was jerked from her thoughts as the humming sound from the com invaded their cockpit. The holographic head of Wolf materialized with an expression of irritation and fear.

"Speed it up!"

"Hey, Wolfie, we're trying." The she-wolf retorted. "We're not piloting Wolfens, y'know?"

"Just wait until we get to Sargasso y-" He was cut off as his holographic head turned to the right in shock.

She furrowed a brow at him. "What's wrong?"

He didn't respond.

Finally giving up on getting answers from the lupine, she looked out the window and gasped. By now, she had all the answers she needed as they entered the asteroid field. Not too far ahead, she could make out the largest floating boulder with bits of gray and a bluish opening. Sargasso.

But what shocked her was all the blast marks and how the interior seemed to be in flames from wherever exposed the rogue space station's interior. The closer they neared the hideout, the more details she could make out. Squinting her eyes, she could see the burning piles of supplies, fighters and other sorts of stuff in the opened hangar. Moving about were the team's surviving lackeys, just looking at them was enough to tell that they were all scattering about in terror.

Finally reaching the hangar, the three ships passed through the barrier and landed, immediately getting out of their cockpits and surveyed the situation. Rina watched as the lupine got out, instantly stomping his way to the closest henchman, grabbing and forcefully turning the monkey around.

"What happened?!" The wolf demanded, intimidating the simian even more.

"Th-th…" The primate stuttered, his jaw quivering as he tried to get his words out.

"Answer me!"

"They attacked!"

"Who?!"

"Only saw...Their ships." The simian gulped a lump down his throat as he continued to try and sentence his experience of the attack.

"What were they?!" The wolf shook the simian violently.

"T-t-t-they looked like Arwings…"

"Star Fox..." He growled, allowing his anger to take over his better judgment and halted any further details.

Rina stepped up, placing a paw on the wolf's shoulder and getting his abrupt attention. He glared over his shoulder to meet her serious but soft amber eyes. It seemed to at least calm him down little enough to be able to listen. But before she could speak, he yanked his shoulder from her paw and walked away, pacing another ten steps before looking over his shoulder at her.

"You and Chimp, follow me." With that, the lupine continued walking at a quick pace.

She quickly turned back to the Zonessian fighter, finding Chimp under the ship apparently giving his craft a check-up. She sighed in frustration and walked back to him, nudging the simian's legs with her boot and getting his attention. The primate maneuvered himself out from under the fighter to look at the she-wolf quizzically.

"Y-yes Rina?"

She gestured to the lupine who had already exited the burning hangar. The two watched as the wolf stopped again, turning around and shooting them a beckoning glance.

"F-follow him?" He asked, looking back up at the she-wolf beside him.

"Yeah…" She muttered. "…Come on."

IIIII

With the sound of a click, the dark space was lit with lights that were four stories above them, revealing rows upon rows of red outlined fighters with double pairs of wings and noses. The armament on the crafts were no toys, have twin heavy blaster cannons jutting out from the side of the fighters' main bodies. Wolfens.

Rina and Chimp stopped behind the lupine, admiring the countless fighters exclusive only to the Star Wolf team. He looked back at the two, watching as they acted like children entering the amusement park for the first time. The wolf grunted, getting the two recruits' attention and gestured them to follow him as they walked down the hidden hangar.

"From now on, you two rookies will be piloting these." He stated with a cold tone, looking over his shoulder. "I expect you to do your _best,_ no mess-ups. Understand?"

"Y-yes sir…" The simian responded, giving the lupine a couple of nods.

Rina only smirked and gave Wolf a sharp gaze of excitement.

"You can modify yours here." With that the lupine left the two as they scrambled about to pick their Wolfens.

_They better be good…I have no time to find replacements for them right now…_

The lupine walked past the elevators, deciding to walk up to the top floors where the team's private lounge and chambers were. As he walked, he only had two things in his mind. His hatred towards Star Fox and the traitor Panther. Though the lackey he interrogated only said they _looked_ like Arwings, the lupine wouldn't go into further details, fueled by his inner rage.

"I'll get you two…I swear…" He growled to himself as he entered the first hallway within the private sector of the station.

"Don't you feel tired walking up those stairs?" The voice of Rina came from behind him, causing him to turn around to face the she-wolf.

"How did you get up here so quickly?"

"Lifts." She shrugged. The she-wolf was leaning on the wall with her arms crossed on her chest.

"What do you want?"

"Oh, just wandering around to explore the station." She smiled, standing up before walking past the lupine, her tail flickered and brushed his face, causing him to let out a small low growl of irritation. She only let out a small giggle from his response and continued walking down the hall, getting a curious yet confusing glare from the lupine.

_What the hell are you trying to do, Rina?_

IIIII

**Author's Note: Oooh, I wonder what's with Rina... So this is a Star Wolf chapter and the next would switch back to our favorite foxy couple! A trip to Sauria. Wonder what's happening... Panther is still mysterious and seemed to have some sort of evil scheme! Hopefully this chapter isn't a disappointment. I noticed that my writing skill has been deteriorating and I'm trying my best to improve.**

**I also removed 'The Pilot and the Musician' for a rewrite after this AND this story's rewrite...After I finish this anyway. If you haven't checked out my other short story(Song-fic?) which I use to entertain you guys while I continue to sort out'Last Wish' then go check it out! It's a fun-to-read short. :P Well, that's what the readers that read it had said.**

**Again, I appreciate any feedback, reviews and critiques! see you guys later!**


	13. Trip

_****_**Author's Note: And finally I was able to make the next chapter! Sorry for such a long wait for this. I'm somewhat in a writer's block...I seriously don't know what to do with a story that's losing it's potential. Yet another short chapter, terribly sorry about it. :( It's at 2,667 words, only about 100 words more than the previous chapter. Originally, I had more in mind but I scrapped that because it's both unneeded and repetitive. Instead, I cut that bit out and enter the next stage of the plot. Hopefully this could bring back some of the readers. xD I'm not gonna just give up on this though, so here it is!**

**Thank you those of you who had reviewed the last chapter though! I seriously appreciated them more than you could imagine. You can trust me when I say that and I hope you'd continue to give me feedback, critique etc. They motivate me!**

**Anyway, enough babbling! Enjoy!**

_**Chapter 13: Trip**_

"You two better take care of yourselves." Peppy stepped up to the two foxes, giving each a parting hug.

"We will, Peppy." Fox assured as the old hare gave him a fatherly embrace which he patted his back a few times.

"Remember, my men will only able to escort you until you reach Katina, but the route from there to Sauria should be secured. It's been checked pretty often by our scanners."

"Yes, Peppy, we'll be extra careful." The blue vixen gave the General a nod and a smile. "Besides, you did get our fighters moved into the shuttle's bay."

"Right, right." The old hare nodded, remembering that he'd ordered the work crew to move both the Arwing II and the Wolfen into the shuttle. "Still, it's still dangerous out there. Especially since the latest major attack on Corneria."

Silence filled the air between them, remembering the dreadful event taken place three days ago. The loss of hundreds on the doomed platform of Columbus wasn't a good thing to recall. But it helped to remind them of the dangers still lurking in the outer sections of the system. It was an even more painful memory to the vixen as the image of seeing the vulpine covered in blood and trapped within the wrecked Arwing emerged from the depths of her mind.

_I won't ever let that happen again. Ever._

She looked back up at the vulpine, pushing the thoughts away and clear her throat to break the silence and snapping the two from their own deep state of thought. They looked at her in question before she gestured sheepishly.

"Um…Let's go." She simply said, poking her thumb over her shoulder at the docked shuttle.

"Oh! Right!" Peppy shook his head. "I forgot, you should get going!"

"Yeah." The vulpine turned to meet the blue vixen's gaze, smiling. "We should."

"Well! Be careful! And take care!" The hare repeated, giving the two another final parting hug before taking a step back. "I'll see you in a few days or so."

"Alright Peppy." Fox nodded as the couple reached down to pick up their luggage, exchanging another smile before walking down the hangar to the shuttle in front.

The large craft they were supposed to take was a third the size of the Great Fox itself but it surely was bigger than they had imagined. Though the shuttle's bay doors were not meant to be used by fighters, it was wide enough for their fighters to fit in. Even more impressive was the bay inside. It looked much smaller from the outside but the extra space left would've been able to fit one more spacecraft. There was a room with multiple bunk beds and a lounge, although a bit smaller than the one on their home ship.

They walked down the hall which connected everything together, reaching the control deck. A two seated piloting craft, it seemed. Perfect for them. The two looked at each other, seeing the same curiosity and determination between them.

"You pilot or me?" The vulpine finally asked.

The cute smirk she gave him was the only response before she walked to the main piloting seat, her tail swishing side-to-side in a playful manner as she did so. She placed a hand on the rim of the fixed chair before turning back to glance at the vulpine, seeing the amused look on his face.

"Okay then." He casually answered, shrugging which she giggled at his previous reaction.

"Well, that changed." She said as she strapped herself onto the chair and switched on the shuttle's power.

"What changed?"

"Your behavior around me." She looked to her left, watching as the vulpine sat down next to her and dancing his fingers over the panel. "You used to be so shy. It was cute back then."

"Oh…That…I uh…" He rubbed the back of his neck. "I still do, just not as often. Like you said, I've changed." He looked up with a slight hint of sadness in his emerald orbs.

She couldn't help but notice it, causing guilt grab hold onto her heart. She did this to him. She had left him, causing the vulpine to lose a part of his original self. She did find his attitude had changed a bit during the past few days. She could only wonder if it'd ever return back to the way it was.

Snapping from her train of thoughts, the vixen double checked all the controls before switching on the com channel.

"This is…" She looked at the screen where it'd usually display the craft's name. "…_Lovebird_?" She frowned at the name of the shuttle.

…_Peppy…? Really now?_

She shook her head as the vulpine burst into laughter, soon joining her mate with a chuckle of her own. The old hare would have a bit of explaining to do when they come back. It was both embarrassing and funny having a military shuttle with such a name. Or it was planned for them? It only left them to wonder.

Finally calming down, the vixen reached to turn on the com once again, taking a deep breath before speaking.

"This is the Lovebird." She paused for a second, stifling another laugh as she continued. "Preparations are done and ready for take off."

There was a moment of silence before an answer came.

"This is Corneria City Spaceport Control, we hear you loud and clear, you may leave the port whenever. The escort squadron will follow suit."

"Roger that." With that she'd cut the link, turning back to the vulpine who smiled and gave her a nod.

Returning the gesture, the vixen punched a button, hearing the engines beginning to come to life before placing her paws onto the controls. After waiting until the engine had been stabilized, she slowly pulled the control stick back, making the craft hover above the ground before steadily maneuvering the shuttle out the hangar and into the evening sky of Corneria.

Not long later, a squad of four military fighters rose from behind the couple's shuttle, trailing behind them as they ascended. Soon, the fighters positioned a diamond formation around the larger spacecraft which the lead pilot of the squadron established a com link to them, his canine head popping up on the hologram projector.

"Captain McCloud and Krystal," the dog- a mastiff- greeted, giving them a curt nod before introducing himself, "I'm Lieutenant Daniels, I'll be the one in charge of your escort on this trip. You can count on me and my men for the best protection."

"Thank you, Lieutenant." Fox responded. "We appreciate it."

They entered the clouds, the window screen in front of them covered by the white misty layer almost immediately. The vixen sighed, leaning back on her seat and stared out at the half concealed escort fighter in front of them.

"You seemed bored." He stated, getting her to turn and look at him.

"Mhm, as if there's anything else to do…" She rolled her eyes before she noticed the look he gave out and smiled slyly. "...We can't leave our seats just yet. But I wish these seats were closer together…"

"Yeah…" was all Fox could respond with.

Soon the clouds parted away from their view, revealing the deep purple sky that continues to darken as evening turns to night. The two allowed their eyes to enjoy the beautiful view of Solar setting down with no clouds to block it. It lasted a few more minutes before the tip of the crafts glowed orange, indicating that their exiting the atmosphere. Quickly, the vixen reached to the controls, tapping on a cyan key with the label 'Hull-Cooler' and heard a long hissing noise throughout the shuttle.

Not long later the blue-purple sky faded to black, pockets of the dark void glittered with small dots of light and the rumbling from piercing Corneria's atmosphere was silenced. With no gravity to pull them back down into the ground, the blue fox danced her fingers across the panel, calculating and setting the course for the space-only auto piloting system.

"If only we could warp space with this thing…" The vulpine sighed, patting the arm of his seat. "This would be a lot faster and we won't need escorts."

"It's quite expensive to make ships with the right plating for warp travels." She said, easing back after activating the AP system. "Besides, you're getting too used to flying in the Arwing and the Great Fox."

"Yeah, you're right." He closed his eyes and yawned. "I'm an Arwing freak."

She giggled at him before standing up. "Well, I'm going to the lounge for a bit." She walked to his side and gave him a peck on the cheek before adding. "You can come too."

He returned the kiss, giving her a loving smile. "Nah, I'll watch the sensors. You go rest."

"Are you sure?" She asked, half disappointed that he'd rejected the offer. But she knew it was necessary, if they were under attack, it'd be best to have someone at the controls just in case.

"Yeah, don't worry."

"…Okay." Was all she said before she leaned down and gave him a deeper kiss.

The two locked lips for a long while, savoring each other's taste the best they could. Soon, her arms swung around his neck. Their mouths never parting, she walked in front of him and sat on his lap, allowing him embrace her. It lasted another minute before they broke away, easing apart so they could look each other in the eyes and see the love within them.

"Well, that was a nice goodnight kiss." He joked, getting a small laugh from her.

"Yeah." She agreed, nuzzling his neck. "Actually, I think I'm more comfortable sleeping here."

"Well, I don't mind being your pillow." He rested his head on hers. "Especially a sleeping beauty like you."

"Oh you." She smiled, closing her eyes and drifted away to slumber.

IIIII

He smiled at the sleeping vixen sitting on his laps, it could've been hours since then, but it didn't matter. The vulpine didn't mind the weight nor the time sitting there. Hell, he loved the moment. Of her fur brushing against him as she breathed peacefully, her scent and her warmth. Everything right now felt right.

_I hope this won't end….So soon._

He felt his eyelids getting heavy, he looked to the main screen, seeing that the time was four in the morning. He blinked once and yawned, unable to fight the sleep that was overcoming him. Soon, his eyes couldn't handle the weight of their lids and gave way, closing his eyes.

"Captain Fox, sir?"

He jerked up at the voice from the com, his eyes shot open and looked at the time, it was twelve. He looked down to see that the vixen was still asleep, her head buried into his chest and her breath tickled his fur. He smiled at himself before he reached and switched the com channel to the Lieutenant's. Instantly, the canine's head popped on the hologram projector. The first second was normal but then the dog's eyes widened.

"Oh, I'm sorry sir…" He cleared his throat. "Errgh…We're halfway from Katina, it won't be long until we'll be splitting off."

"Understood, Lieutenant." The vulpine nodded and switched the com off, pausing as he did so.

He could feel the vixen stir as she shifted on his lap, her head leaving his chest and looked up with a sleepy smile.

"Had a nice sleep?" He asked as he brushed away a few strands of hair from her face. The only answer he received was a sleepy maon from her as she reburied her head into his chest.

"I guess you can sleep more." He let out a small chuckle-

A flash of white flooded their vision followed by a small shockwave that shook the shuttle, causing the blue vixen to lose the last of her sleepiness as she look up with wide eyes at the vulpine. He only stared in shock at the wreckage in front of him, with his jaw hanging. The com was burst with calls from the rest of the escort squad.

"Lieutenant!"

"Lt. Daniels!"

One by one, another link was cut off, replaced by the grim noise of static. The sides of the window screen glowed for a second and once again followed by the rumble of the shuttle itself. The two were too dazed to do anything, along with the escort, but his shock turned to hateful sneers as a familiar voice hissed through the com.

"Why hello there…"

"Panther!" Krystal gasped, her expression changed from shock to surprise and fear. "..Wh-why did you-"

She was interrupted as a thud echoed through the ship, causing the two foxes to freeze. Soon, they heard the sound of something cutting through the hull, a clank and then footsteps. The two glanced back at the com noticing all the signals were cut, they were being jammed. The two looked at each other with fear in their eyes.

"We need to get ready." He finally said, getting a nod from her as a response.

She quickly jumped off his lap, running to the nearest weapons' rack within the deck, grabbing and tossing a blaster to Fox as she switched the safety off hers. He caught the weapon with ease, powering it up before looking back at the vixen and gave her a curt nod. She responded and the two pointed their guns at the entrance to the room, waiting for the inevitable invasion of enemies.

Nothing…

They exchanged confused looks as they had waited a full three minutes with nothing trying to break through the blast door to capture them. The shuttle's interior wasn't big, their adversaries should've been here by now.

_If they're not coming from there…_ He gasped, instantly turning to face the window screen.

Nothing…

Fear continued to spread throughout his body as he frantically searched the room. Though this wasn't the first time the two of them had been cornered, this was inside a shuttle, surrounded by endless vacuum. They weren't going to have anywhere else to escape and he doubt they could push through the enemy with mere light-weight blasters.

_Boom!_

He was jerked from his thoughts as the blast door _exploded_, the plating flying right between the couple, giving the two the closest experience of a heart attack. Dazed and shocked from the blast, the enemy tossed a strange blue rod into the room. Only a second after they realized what was thrown into their deck, they ducked away and shielded their eyes as a bright flash flooded the room followed by a feeling on their backs as if a thousand needles were pricked into them.

Having only a second to scream in pain from the stun grenade, the vulpine felt someone grab his arms and forced him onto the ground, the side of his face slammed into the hard steel followed by the extreme pain in his head. He was at the brink of going unconscious, using the last of his strength to turn his head to look at the other side, seeing the vixen being held by two masked figures, her voice and other sounds muffled due to the impact from earlier.

He watched as she struggled, seeming to call out his name. Her figure was blocked when a boot stepped in front of his vision, causing him to look up only to see the smirk on a black feline's face. He growled, struggling to push himself up only to find his arms locked behind his back.

"You…" He managed, glaring at the black cat.

"Yes, me." He chuckled at the vulpine. "I never thought the legendary Fox McCloud was such an easy prey."

The fox only growled in response.

"Hmph." Panther shrugged, turning away from him. "Knock him."

With that, the last thing the vulpine could feel was a force that caused his face to smash onto the floor before he blacked out.

_No…_

_IIIII_

__**Author's Note: One of the previous reviews actually predicted what happened, a sign that I'm not the best at keeping you guys guessing. xD And now that you've read the chapter, I can tell you what I originally had in mind like a month ago;**

**It's suppose to last two or three chapters, all about their little time on Sauria where I'd introduce a 'pet'. xD But I cut it out because I find it repetitive, not even five chapters ago, I had the two dating and I find what I had planned was basically nearly the same scene in a different setting, so yeah, I went with the ambush instead. That is one of the reasons why I cut the plot short a bit, the other is because I want to finish this story so I could get started on other stories, namely the rewrite for this story.**

**I hope this didn't disappoint you. :( Like I said somewhere in the previous chapters, 'Last Wish' is currently in a pile with no organization, but I'm attempting to clean that up.**

**I appreciate any feedbacks, reviews and/or critiques! It helps and motivates me to do this faster! Thanks, I'll see you all next time!**


	14. Torn Apart

**Author's Note: Hey guys! Sorry about the long wait for this to be updated, I sorta got myself into a writer's block again and I'm terribly sorry about that!Not to mention I have exams coming up which forces me to go pick up books to study and exhaust the hell out of myself from it. x_X Anyway, enough of my rambling!**

**Thank you those of you who'd reviewed last chapter! Glad that you liked it, although I still find that it could've been made better. And I'm absolutely sure this chapter could've also been better but I just can't write it any better. xD For that I'm sorry. I just hope this chapter isn't too bad.  
**

**HOUR UPDATE: Hey! My friend ChaseUC has just published his first story called 'Sweet Nothing'! It would be great if you guys can check his story out as well! Thanks!  
**

**Anyway, enjoy!  
**

_**Chapter 14: Torn Apart** _

The black feline looked down at the helpless vulpine struggling as one of the cat's men pinned him down. He smirked at him as he continued to break himself free from the lock. Soon though, the fox managed to look up and growled. He could hear the vixen behind him screaming for the vulpine's name while she was held back by another two of his subordinates.

"You..." He managed to say in a low growl.

"Yes, me." The feline chuckled, amused from all this. "I never thought the legendary Fox McCloud was such an easy prey."

Instead of talking, the vulpine only growled in response.

"Hmph." He shrugged, turning around to see the fearful look in the vixen's eyes. He grinned maliciously before he looked over his shoulder. "Knock him."

His subordinate obeyed, raising an elbow above the vulpine's head and slamming it down, causing him to lose consciousness and turn limp. The struggle from the fox ceased and allowed the masked pilot to get off of him. But to be truly satisfied, the subordinate kicked the vulpine onto his back, seeing no reaction from him and grunted. The feline nodded and gestured for him to get back to the boarding ship they used to dock onto the shuttle before turning his attention back to the vixen.

Her struggle intensified after the vulpine fainted, adding more difficulty for the two that held her to continue to subdue the vixen. "FOX!" She screamed, managing to get one of her arms free and back-elbowing one of the two men in the face before she was fully free and wasting no time to scramble for the unconscious vulpine lying just behind the black cat.

"Fox...Fox! Wake up!" She knelt beside the vulpine, frantically shaking him before giving up and resting her head on his chest sobbing.

"You shouldn't need to worry about him." The cat said, not bothering to face her. "My men didn't harm him too badly."

"...What do you want from us?" She asked with a trembling voice, raising her head just enough to see the black cat.

"Oh, that's something you don't need to worry about. Not anymore that is." He turned back to face the two foxes, the smug look still on his face. "But I can assure you, if you'll come with me, I will spare him." He gestured at the unconscious McCloud.

He watched as she thought about the situation, her eyes darting around desperately in search of a different solution and biting her lips anxiously. Soon though, her eyes looked up at him for a mere fraction of a second before looking away in defeat and nodding slightly in acceptance. He allowed a grin to stretch across his muzzle before signalling for his men to take the vixen back to their boarding craft.

One of the men walked over to the vixen and grabbed her, surprised that she showed no resistance as he jerked her back on her feet before shoving her to move towards the exit. But before she left the deck, she looked back and shot the feline another glare before asking.

"Wait. What're you going to do to him?" Her voice was still laced with fear, fear for what the cat would do to the vulpine as her eyes once again fixed on him.

"He'll be with us soon..." He merely answered, waving them to get out of the control room. Once the vixen was out of sight and earshot, the cat looked at the vulpine one last time. "Hmph." He huffed, turning around and walking towards the exit.

"What am I supposed to do with him?" The last of his subordinate asked, causing the feline to stop.

"Just leave him there and plant the bomb."

With that, the cat left the exit. Unknowingly, the subordinate continued to wait until he was certain that the feline had left the two alone. He looked down at the vulpine for a moment before dragging him towards the doors and stopped. He poked his head out and glanced down the hall checking to make sure the coast was clear before once again drag the unconscious fox down it. After a long ten minute drag, he'd reached where he wanted to drag the body to.

Entering another room were pods, lined all around the room. Each of them was big enough for a person to fit into and was covered in a anti-vacuum seal; escape pods. The masked figure wasted no time and dragged the fox to the nearest pod, opening it and throwing the vulpine into it. But before he sealed it, he reached for his back pocket and pulled out a chip, placing it within the pod before sealing it up.

"I hope this won't end up badly..." He muttered, pulling out his combat knife and jamming it into the control panel beside the pod and forcefully tearing it open just enough to expose the wiring.

He cautiously handled the wires, double checking if it was the right ones that he was holding. One bad move and the pod would launch instantly and alarm Panther and the rest of them on their boarding craft. He had to set it so that the pod will automatically launch when the explosion happens; heat and shock detection. He'd known the magnitude of the bomb he was carrying and quickly did his best to get the approximation just right before finally satisfied and replaced the broken panel.

Leaving the unconscious vulpine back there, he rushed back up to the control deck and set the time bomb under the controls before quickly making his way to the boarding craft. Once he was on, the rest of the crew gave him weird looks. It was quite suspicious, it shouldn't take half an hour just to set up the bomb. He quickly thought of an excuse.

"Tech problems..." He muttered out.

"Is it?" The cat scratched the bottom of his chin, still unsure whether his subordinate was telling the truth or not.

"Yeah, it is sir."

Deciding not to dwell on it for too long, the cat nodded and closed their ship before disconnecting from the hole they made on the shuttle. The strange and late-coming subordinate took this moment to get to the room the vixen resided, entering it as she scowled at him. He checked if there were anyone else around before quietly closing the door and taking off his mask, revealing his simian features.

"Who are you?" She asked, hints of hostility still lingering in her tone.

"There's hardly enough time to explain, I'm Dash. Dash Bowmen."

"And what do you want?"

"I'm the third member of Falco's team, I was sucked into the warp when they destroyed the station." He once again turned around and checked outside before closing the door again and continuing. "I made sure McCloud will be alive after the explosion."

"Explosion?! What ex-" Her question was cut off when they both noticed the orange light coming from the window, her eyes widened. "No..." She got up from where she sat and quickly ran towards the window, pressing her face against the screen and watched as the explosion faded away to darkness and floating wreckage. "FOX!"

"Calm down! He's okay." The monkey patted her on the shoulder. "I'm a hundred percent sure, I was the one who set the escape pod to leave when the bomb detonated."

"How are you sure?! What if you're lying!?" She swung around, connecting her fist to the side of the primate's face and sending him to the floor. "You disgusting thug!"

"Krystal! Stop! You're gonna get both of us-"

"You murderous ape!" She grabbed him by the collar but he made no resistance. Instead, both of them heard the footsteps of people scrambling to the room and causing the primate to quickly grab the mask that was on the floor and putting it back on.

Soon, the door slammed open and the black cat came in followed by two of his men. The scene in front of him was amusing least to say as the vixen had pinned the possibly armed guard down on the floor. He smirked, crossing his arms across his chest as the other two went to get the vixen off and helping the third one limp out of the room. Soon, he called the one to leave him and the vixen alone.

Once the room was devoid of anyone besides him and the blue fox, he stared the vixen down. "Now, what seemed to be the problem earlier?"

IIIII

_He lied..._

The vixen's gaze fell to the floor, tears welling up and her paws clenched tight into fists. "You lied..."

He didn't answer her, merely taking another step forward. Not hesitating, she shot herself up and threw a fist at him only to miss by an inch. With plenty of time from her sloppy attack, he grabbed her arm and twisted it around to her back. She struggled and swung her other arm, this time even more clumsily and allowed the feline to grab that too.

Now unable to move, she tried kicking him but failed as he pushed her down to the floor. "Get off me you lying backstabbing bastard!"

"Now, now." He merely said, the smug look still on his features. She couldn't help but scowl at him. "I didn't 'lie'. I did spare him...For a few more moments anyway."

She didn't want to hear anymore of this. He _said _he'd spare the vulpine if she came with him and she did. She found that she was hating herself for believing he would actually hold onto his words.

_And this was the result..._

Soon she noticed her vision blurred as tears began to flow freely from her eyes. Her breaths came in sniffles as depression took over her. She'd lost Fox. He was gone. Her stance weakened, the only support that kept her from falling to the floor was the cat's grip on her hands behind her back. She looked up at the window, seeing stars and other space debris past by as they got farther and farther away from the destroyed shuttle.

"You should be thankful I spared you at least."

She looked over her shoulder, unsure what he'd meant. Was he supposed to kill her as well? She watched as he furrowed a brow at her expression before humming questioningly and letting her hands free. Since the only support that kept her up was gone, she fell forward and landed onto the floor with a grunt but made no attempt to get up. Instead, she turned her head and looked up at him.

"Y-you were supposed to kill both of us?"

He simply nodded before stepping in front of the lying vixen. "Both of you. But I can't let such a beautiful rose like you to be wasted like that." He knelt down and lifted her head by the chin and smirked at her hopeless look. "And I definitely won't let such a low life as McCloud have you."

"You monster..."

"Say what you wish, it would make not a single difference." He dropped her chin and stood back up before walking out the room only to stop at the doorway and look back at her. "Now you're with me. And I'll make sure it'd last longer than that pathetic fox."

With that, he left the room and leaving her alone, lying on the cold floor. Not a moment later, she finally allowed her emotions free. Eyes bursting with tears as she sobbed, mourning for the vulpine. Her claws dug slightly into the floor, leaving claw marks as she clenched her paws into fists. She'd felt like she'd lost her only reason to live. For the second time, she'd felt like dying.

"Fox..." She whispered his name through sobs as if hoping that he'd answer her somewhere. "You can't die..."

Then she remembered the primate's words from earlier.

_"He's okay." _The simian had said when she was too emotionally distressed.

Wanting to believe that, she pushed herself up and slowly walked her way to the window where she'd saw the hints of the explosion. Pressing her face against it, she looked around with blood-shot eyes and searched through the dark void for any signs of an escape pod. But then she realized that the craft would have been too far away by now and gave up, falling back to her more hopeless state.

Glancing to her right, she blankly stared at the bunk bed and collapsed on it with her muzzle buried into the covers. This time, she didn't cry. Instead, her mind continued to replay those words said by the monkey that gave her faint hope. But there was this question that lingered along with it. Could she trust him? She thought back again and remembered what he'd said.

_"I'm the third member of Falco's team." _

She should have peered into his mind back then. If she did, she'd be able to confirm his words and she'd be more than relieved. But she was too distressed to even listen to him at all and she cursed herself for allowing her emotions get the better of her. Though she didn't fully trust on what he'd said, it's the only thing that could keep her sanity in check and give her the faintest glimpse of hope. She would have to talk to that primate again.

Soon, her eyelids began to feel heavy and she found it harder and harder to keep them open. Giving up the struggle, she allowed her eyes to close shut and drifted off to a dream world where she was still content, where he was there with her.

IIIII Hours later... IIIII

Somewhere in the dark void, a rod-like pod drifted peacefully through space. The ends of it blinked red as it continued to float its way towards a cluster of large space rocks that orbited only a few thousand miles away from a blue and green marble; Corneria. It would've been left unnoticed through it's journey into the asteroid field but luckily, it was spotted by something as it halted whatever it was doing and slowly made its way to the pod.

Opening one of its mechanical claws, it slowly reached for the pod and grabbed hold of it. In the cockpit of the craft, an old terrier curiously looked over the pod from where he sat, scratching his chin before noticing the faint outline of someone inside. He could make out the shape of a male canid species with pointed ears.

"Hm." He squinted his eyes to get a better view of it before shaking his head. "I'll need to bring it back to my place."

With that, he steered his craft away from the asteroid field and towards a bigger ship, hidden by one of the large rocks. It slowly made its way to the back of the larger craft and docked in the small hangar and closed the gates behind him and sealed himself from the cold dark space.

IIIII **  
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**Author's Note: And there you have it. 2, 575 words...Another somewhat short chapter. I finally managed to get the Dash problem solved and here's the solution I used. Hopefully it doesn't confuse anyone. xD I'm pretty sure it would.  
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**I'm also somewhat wondering which story I should actually do next. I have two story requests, a sequel and two rewrites. xD Which one should I go for! Gaaah! Well, I'll just pull my hair and rage alone and save you guys from my messes. xD I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please leave a review if you can! I really appreciate it! More than you could think of!  
**

**I'll see you sometime soon! :) See ya!  
**


	15. Vengeful

**Author's Notes: So, I decided to work on this fast and here comes me going around on a writing frenzy. (Hopefully without pauses.) I'm doing this just so I could try and ignore a writer's block and also mainly I had too much sugar running in my veins at the moment. Judging by the pace the story is going now, I'm certain it'll be finished within 5 or 6 more chapters and then I'm free to do other stories! Most likely I'll do my friend's story first because...Priorities. xD**

**Thank you those of you who'd reviewed last chapter! And for this once, I'm gonna feel like a jerk for thinking of this but I want to see if I could reach 10 reviews this chapter. xD I doubt I would though since I've known to lose viewers over the past few chapters, probably because I've only read their reviews but never replied to them via PMs like I used to do from chapter 1 to 4. I'll start doing that again. xD**

**I'd like to also give special thanks for Cpt. Fox to Beta read on short notice. I swear if I'd published this chapter before he beta'd I'm sure it'd be quite a mess! Thank you Captain!**

**Enough of this rambling! Enjoy this chapter and please leave a review if possible! I really appreciate it!**

**_Chapter 15: Vengeful _**

The first thing he felt was his breathing, weak and faint. Soon, more awareness made it's way back to him and his consciousness slowly returned. Then came the pain that flooded into his head, particularly at the back of his skull. Weak as he was, he couldn't reach an arm to touch that spot and forcing him to endure that pain until he blacks out again. With all the strength he could muster, he attempted to at least open his eyes to see where he was.

_Where am I? What happened...? I can't... _

Slowly, his eyes opened but the vision he had was still blurred and he could feel his strength fading away once again. What he could make out was dark, as if he was floating in the dark reaches of space. But that was impossible. He was still breathing and although there was not a trace of artificial gravity, he bumped to the side, against a rather cushioned wall. But his mind ignored it and instead, his eyes lazily explored his surroundings, but they never seemed to focus.

For a moment, it was silent. He couldn't see a single thing once again as his eyes closed, his eyelids too heavy to be held up. But he could still feel his surroundings and after a time span that could have been seconds, minutes or even hours, he felt vibrations within the small cramped space he resided in. But it didn't last long as it faded away just as fast as it had appeared, replaced with a feeling as if a kinetic force somehow pushed it forward. He turned his head to the side, wanting to look at what was pushing him but instead, when he once again opened his eyes for a brief second, he saw nothing except the walls of his little confinement.

Soon though, he felt the previous pushing force stop and a change in lighting through his eyelids. Another moment later, he felt a force pulling or pushing him forward and leaned against the front wall. But it didn't feel like a wall as his head accidentally bumped it and grunting weakly. It felt more like the glass used to make a fighter's cockpit windows. But again, he felt something move whatever he was in and felt the change of gravity, this time pulling his back and forcing him back against the surface behind him.

First expecting a cold, metal surface, he somewhat tried to brace for it even if it was just a very weak impact. He wasn't in a state where he could withstand even the slightest pinch. He was too fragile and exhausted. But instead, he felt himself landing on a soft cushioned surface and let out a sigh as he rested there. His eyes once again opened a little to see a light above him like a sun. But it grew stronger as something removed the glass-like wall between him and that light source.

The light blinded him for a moment, causing him to seal his eyes shut until he could see the lighting dimming a bit through his closed eyes and reopened them again to see a shadowy figure. Through the process, he heard the figure gasp and felt something grabbing his shoulders along with a familiar muffled voice. Someone old but lively. Before long, he once again, his vision blurred out and faded to black as he lost consciousness again.

IIIII

Her eyes fluttered open after a long sleep and the first thing she noticed was the wetness of the covers against her cheek and realizing she had been crying in her sleep. She sighed and sat up, looking back down at the damp part of the blanket before turning to the other side towards the window screen. Strangely, it wasn't the dark void of space. Instead, the window was flooded with light and what seemed like steel walls of a hangar.

_How long did I sleep? _

Her ears twitched as she heard her door hissing open, causing her to jerk her head towards the source and quiver in fear. The black feline smirked at her reaction as he stepped into the room, with instinct she stood up and took several steps to the side, keeping her distance from him as far as possible. All the while, he continued to walk forward and faked a frown.

"Why the fearful look, my dear?" His voice was laced with sick minded playfulness and amusement.

"Stay back you monster!"

"My, such hostility."

He stopped in front of her, their muzzles merely inches away. She could smell his foul breath as they stood there for another few moments. Her heart pounded in her chest, her mind screamed for her to push him away and run out the now open door. She slowly looked up to meet his lust-driven gaze filled with dark and sick ambitions, it terrified her and gave her more reason to try and make a break for the exit.

But before she could do anything, he shot an arm up and hit the wall beside her, getting a flinch and a small scream from her. He snickered at her before taking a step back to allow the vixen a bit more room to breathe before turning around and looking over his shoulder at her.

"You know I wouldn't hurt such a beauty like you." He said with a disgusting tone that the vixen guessed was his way of acting seductive. She frowned before easing a bit as he began to walk towards the door. But he stopped again before adding. "Follow me, we're getting off this cramped craft."

Timidly, she did what he asked and hesitantly took a step forward. She wanted to rebel against him but for now, she needed to play along and hopefully find a way to reach the monkey called Dash. She avoided eye contact, fixing her gaze down at the floor and walking up to his side. She could feel him wrapping an arm around her waist and jerked from his grasp, gasping.

A slight huff of amusement was all he made before he gestured her to follow him. With that, the two of them exited the small room, walked down the hallways and left the boarding craft they were in. Now, she realized where they'd landed. It wasn't a land hangar nor was it on an orbital space station. No, she now found herself standing in the middle of a hangar belonging to a much larger ship. Studying her surroundings for another moment, she shot a glare at the cat with a hint of curiosity

"Where are we?"

"A ship we'll be staying on for a while, my dear." He merely said before stepping in front of her and gesturing her to walk with him.

Just as she stepped beside him, she felt him forcefully grab her by the waist. She restrained herself from beating the living hell out of him as she noticed the number of armed guards surrounding them. But then she felt his muzzle graze across the top of her head before his breathing reached her ears, causing them to twitch.

"You'd best not do anything hostile." He whispered, causing her to once again scan the guards with caution. "They're not my men and would gladly shoot you down."

"Then why don't they do it now?"

"Because I'm your shield but you won't be able to take me down." She could imagine him grinning after finishing that sentence. It made her sick to the stomach yet she couldn't do a single thing.

Nodding in acceptance, she allowed him to lead her down the hangar, seeing the many fighters laid within the massive place. Strangely, there were both Cornerian and Venomian vessels and even some Zonessian ones as well. Could this be a rebel hideout of some sort? The pilots and workers all gave her glares and blank stares as they passed by, those hateful looks made her realize the feline was telling the truth and regretfully causing her to inch closer to him. She could tell the cat was satisfied with this and it made her grimace.

She didn't like being so close to the feline but it was her only choice if she wanted to stay alive on here. And from what the cat had said earlier, she was going to stay on this dreadnought for a long while. She didn't want to talk but her curiosity was taking over and soon she glanced at him before asking. "Why are we here then?"

"This will be our home." He answered, a somewhat distasteful look made its way onto his muzzle. "For the time being." He looked at her but she retreated her gaze back down to the floor. "But once this is all over, I will own a ship of my own and you'll be serving under me..."

"And what exactly are you waiting to get over with?"

"That is none of your concern."

They reached the exit and left the hangar. Walking down the hall, more glares were aimed at her causing her to growl lowly. Even if she couldn't fight Panther, she could defeat the others with ease. Along with the benefit that he wouldn't dare hurt her. But she pushed that thought away. It would be stupid to think of taking the whole ship's crew down alone.

Not long later, the two had reached what she presumed would be the ship's living quarters. But it seemed much more luxurious than that as the floors were covered in carpets and the space between each door seemed bigger than usual.

_Just what kind of ship is this? _

They made their way down one of the halls, stopping at one of the doors before he entered a code and got a beep from the lock. It opened to reveal a room that looked more like a five star suite than a ship cabin. Red carpet covered the floor with a queen sized bed sitting in the middle. The nightstand was of polished oak and sitting beside it was a large dresser made with the same material. On the other side of the bed was another stand with a large mirror. On the adjacent wall was a door, but what could be on the other side, she'd find out later.

If it was meant to make her feel less hostile, it wasn't working. For any other occasion that didn't involve being kidnapped and having to be with Panther, she'd probably like the room offered. The two of them entered the room without a word. It was then that she noticed a set of clothing and...Her staff? She gasped and rushed towards the bed where most of her belongings laid, checking if they were really hers.

_My stuff! But how... _

She looked back at the cat, unsure what the meaning of this was. Surely there was a reason behind his hospitality besides taking her as a prisoner. She cautiously took a second to scan his mind and realized the reason before growling at him.

"This won't change the way I view you..."

"I'm not counting on those mere things to." He leaned against the door and faked a smile. "But you'll change eventually." He turned and opened the door before adding. "This will be your room for the time being, I'll be back in an hour. Have yourself dressed and I'll show you around."

With that, he left her in the room, the door hissing shut before the vixen reached for her staff and inspecting it. The last time she'd left it was on Sargasso, in her room. But why didn't he bring both of them back to the hideout? Why are they here? These questions continued to repeat themselves in her mind. It didn't make much sense to her. But one thing was quite obvious, he'd probably left Star Wolf just like her. But she didn't want to dwell here any longer. She had to get out of here and get back to Corneria...She had to get back to Fox.

_But you're not sure if he's alive... _

That thought made her bit her lower lip. The only lead she had since their separation was Dash. Her eyes welled as she remembered seeing the orange light of an explosion and the mentioning of Fox being left on the shuttle. Her heart ached at the thought of him not making it out alive. She wouldn't be able to live on without him. She lied down on the bed, looking up at the ceiling as she let out a sigh.

"Fox..."

IIIII

_"Fox..."_

He heard a faint familiar voice ringing in his mind. But who? He couldn't tell as his consciousness came back. The first thing he noticed was the light weight on his body, it wasn't too noticeable but when he opened his eyes, he found himself snugged under a comfy thick blanket on a bed. The lighting was, at first, unbearable, causing him to squint his eyes and groaned but a moment later, he adjusted to the surrounding lights and noticed that it was from the window.

Looking around, he noticed the environment wasn't metallic or anything that was related to living out in space. Instead, the walls were made of materials you'd usually see in cities. For his case, it was wood. He was on a planet.

_But that doesn't make sense! I was out in space when- _

He was snapped from his thoughts when he heard a door creak open and closed again. Shooting his head up, he watched a familiar figure walking his way and sat down next to him. He was a Terrier and because of his current state, the vulpine's mind couldn't seem to come up with a name to go with his face.

"I see you're finally awake." The canine stated, smiling at him. "for a moment I thought you're in a coma or something."

"H-Henry?" He managed to remember the bartender's name. "H-How..."

"I'll explain to you later," He made a dismissive wave to the fox and stood up. "I'll fetch you some water."

With that, the terrier left him alone once again. But not a minute later, the old dog came back with a glass of water, placing it on the wooden nightstand next to the fox.

"Drink up. you are probably dehydrated."

"Thanks..."

He squirmed a hand out of the thick blanket and reached over to get the glass of water. Using his other arm, he pushed himself up before bringing the glass closer and gulping down its contents. For the first time, he'd find water to be much more appealing than the usual alcohol he'd been drinking for the past year. The heavenly liquid flowed down his throat and he loved it. Henry had been right. He _was _dehydrated.

"How long have I been passed out, how'd I end up here?"

"I think a little over a day, after I got you back from the Sargassian Asteroid field anyway."

_Sargassian Asteroid field?! But... _

His eyes widened as he remembered what happened and that realization made his heart skip a beat. He remembered getting on a shuttle, that they were supposed to go to Sauria, then the escort being wiped out one by one, when the black cat boarded their craft and knocked down the blast door to their room and pinning him down and her distressed cries for his name...

_Krystal! _

With a quick motion, he tried to get up but then he felt his head pound and growled, shooting a hand up to clutch onto his temple for dear life. But before the vulpine could fall back onto the bed, the terrier reached and gave support for the fox's back and gently laid him back down on the bed.

"Easy, boy."

"She's out there! He has her! I _need_ to help her!" he growled through his grit teeth, bearing the pain in his head.

"You can't when you're in this condition."

"I'm fine!"

"Sure you are, just rest for another day and I'll let ya go."

Not wanting to make a bigger fuss out of this, he sighed in defeat and laid back down on the bed. But his heart and mind was still running wildly with fear. Fear for the vixen he loved so much that was now in the grasp of the wretched feline.

_Panther..._

The name of the cat sickened him. The way he'd seen the feline act, how he'd treated Krystal when she was still in Star Wolf. Everything that was related to him had made the vulpine sick to the stomach. And that only fueled his determination to go back out there and find them, to save her from that evil cat's grasp. But right now, he couldn't move just yet. Knowing that going out there now in his current condition would be fatal, he decided to go with the terrier's decision and rest for now.

He stared blankly at the ceiling for a moment before he heard the old dog shift in his seat beside him. He turned to look at the terrier as he took out what seemed like an old wood carved pipe. Plopping the tobacco into it, the canine lit it up and took a puff, blowing the smoke out from his nose. All the while, the vulpine's mind continued to wander around with countless questions but then he remembered one that he wanted to ask earlier.

"Hey Henry."

"Hm?" the black terrier looked at him questioningly. "What is it?"

"Why were you out there?"

"Oh! Right!" he chuckled as he took another puff on the pipe. "I was getting something I needed for the bar!"

"Which is...?"

"Hold on a moment!" The terrier quickly stood up and walked the other way, opening a door that the vulpine didn't see earlier due to it's angle. Soon, the old dog came back carrying a large ice box. When he noticed it, Fox couldn't help but furrow a brow in amusement. "This."

"What's _this_?"

To answer the vulpine's question, he unlocked the icebox and picked up a large lump of pure cyan colored ice, causing the fox to give him a confused look. "Good ol' Sargassian ice!"

"You flew all the way out to Sargasso for _that?!_ That's ridiculous!"

"Oh-ho, it's the reason why my drinks are so damn spot on!" The terrier grinned, putting the large ice chunk back into the icebox and sealing it tightly. "Besides, I've been doing that since the end of the Lylat Wars."

"Aren't you even a tad scared that you'd get ambushed by Star Wolf or any pirates?"

"Nah, why would they try and rob an old dog like me?"

Deciding not to continue the conversation and with most of his body aching for him to take a rest, the vulpine sighed and closed his eyes. "Whatever...I'm gonna rest for a bit..."

"Alright then."

With that, the terrier got up from the seat and walked out the room, closing the door behind him. Just as soon as the terrier was gone, the vulpine opened an eye out, surveying the room before rolling over to his side. Tomorrow, the first thing he'd do would be to find people he could recruit to reform his team.

_Falco and Katt are still around...I could get them...but I need one or two more to come with us... _

He grinned as he remembered two cocky cadets that had challenged him and Krystal to a dogfight. Though he wasn't sure if he could persuade Peppy to let him get those two out of the academy and into his team, the fox would still at least ask to have them fly by just in case. And there was one place that he'd guess Panther would bring the vixen to, not knowing the the feline had left Wolf's team...

_Sargasso._

IIIII

**Author's Note: Well! Here's the next chapter! Fast right? I mean my updates. xD Well, anyway, I hope this chapter didn't disappoint you guys. xD I know when I said I want to see if I could reach 10 reviews this chapter( Which made me sound like a greedy writer. Sorry. ) you'd probably expect to have something epic here. xD Sorry if I didn't meet that expectation, I'm quite bad at satisfying readers. :(**

**For those of you who didn't really get this chapter, I've tried to make Krystal seem like she still have 'some' feelings for Panther. Why? Because it's a way to dive deeper into this love triangle which I hope I didn't do too bad with.**

**Again, thank you those of you who reviewed! I also want to thank Cpt. Fox a trillion for beta-reading this! I've worn him out and I'm kinda sorry for that. Sorry Fox. :S**

**Lastly, like I said, I'll be replying to reviews on this story once again via PMs. So leave anything you want me to answer or discuss with in your review and I'll reply! :) See ya later!**


	16. Recruitment

**Author's Note: Hey there folks! I'm terribly sorry for not updating for so long. This writer's block is one hell to get through and to be honest, I'm still in the middle of the fray. Anyway, I do have some bad news, especially those who's been following ChaseUC's story 'Sweet Nothing'. ****He's going through some rough and busy times and had somewhat lost interest in writing and thus he stopped updating. I really do hope he would continue the story though.**

**Another thing was that due to the writer's block, I've been unable to really update a new oneshot to my holiday oneshot collection but I do have it partially finished. I just want to know if you want me to finish that and post it as well. I'll give you somewhat of a hint...It's a boring theme of office jobs, believe it or not and I'm pretty sure it's quite bad...**

**Lastly, I'd like to give a huge thanks to those who'd reviewed so far. Even though I didn't reach 10 reviews, I didn't expect it to. But reaching 8 reviews from last update really meant a lot to me. So thank you all of you who reviewed. Trust me, your contribution actually made this chapter possible to be released. I swear, I would've just left it unfinished for months. But of course, whenever I see your feedbacks, I would sit down, open my laptop and start typing. So once again; Thank you!**

**Hope this chapter wasn't too bad. I'll admit it's short, at 2,648 words. But I guess I'll see the end results when you're done reading! Enjoy!**

_**Chapter 16: Recruitment**_

The distant sound of something mechanical whirring stirred the vulpine from his sleep, causing him to roll over to one side before groaning. But soon, he opened his eyes and yawned with a frustrated look on his face. But he wasn't mad about being waken up. In fact, he appreciated it. He didn't want to sleep any longer and when the vixen popped into his mind, he forced the last of his desire to sleep away and replaced it with the need to rescue her.

_Get up Fox…Come on!_

He pushed himself up and shifted until he sat on the edge of the bed. At first, he didn't pay much attention to his surroundings but then he noticed how the room seemed to feel a bit colder than it was the last time he was awake, causing him to shiver.

Then looking out the nearest covered window, he could make out a small source of light through the slits of the blinds but it was too weak to have been the rays of Sol. And to add that with the cold temperature in the room, the vulpine guessed it was night time. But even at night, there were still sounds of something or someone working.

His ears twitched towards the source and walked in that direction. Once he reached the door, he paused and looked around, thankful that his brain could function properly just shortly after waking up. If he was to go outside with nothing but his ragged tank top and military fatigues, he would most likely catch a cold which was something he didn't want.

_And I'm stuck here while she's captured by that damn cat!_

A growl escaped him as he continued to scan the room until his eyes rested on some familiar clothing that was folded next to his bed. He wasted no time and quickly made his way back to the side of his bed and looked over the articles of clothing. Upon further inspection, he found out it was the same attire he used before they got ambushed and certainly, the clothing would keep him just warm enough.

In quick motion, he threw the clothes on and marched back to the door before opening it only to be greeted by what seems to be a fighter's G-diffuser engine with a pair of legs sticking out from underneath.

The sound itself was definitely clearer now and the fox could guess it must be a type of fusion drill. The whirring was immensely louder than it was back in the room. But then, he noticed that there was no ceiling above his head and that the floor was not covered by carpets but grass instead. But then his thoughts moved back to the scene in front of him and he furrowed his brow in confusion.

_Wasn't he supposed to be a regular bartender? What's he doing with that? And all these?!_

He looked around him as that thought played through his mind. There were parts of machinery and other miscellaneous materials scattered all over the yard. If the vulpine could pile all of them in a corner, it'd be just as big as Slippy's old collection of random engineering things if not bigger.

_Was he an engineer before?_

The whirring sounds stopped and the figure beneath the large engine pulled out from under it, revealing Henry with dust, grease and oil staining his clothes. For a second, the terrier didn't notice the vulpine standing in front of him but he did just as soon as he got up to a sitting position.

"Ah, sorry about that." He stood up before looking over the engine. "I woke you up, didn't I?"

"Yeah, but it's fine." The vulpine answered, his eyes scanning the whole yard once again before asking, "You're a mechanic?"

"I used to be one."

"That explains the junk." He mused, causing the old canine to chuckle.

"Yep! Even after quitting, I still can't stop this habit of mine." The terrier answered before returning back under the engine. "Say, since you're here, you mind helping me with this?"

"Guess so." The fox shrugged before walking right beside the engine. "What can I do to help, exactly?"

"Oh, right." The terrier's voice muffled from under the large piece of machinery. "You see the pile of tools on top of this beauty?"

The vulpine looked over the 'beauty', his eyes resting on the various tools that sprawled out on the whole flat surface of the engine before nodding. At first he didn't notice the stupidity of that action but once he did, he couldn't help but smack his temple and growl before answering the canine. "Yeah…I see them."

"Great, just get the right tool when I call for them, alright?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Alright, fetch me the spanner."

"Uh…" The vulpine looked over the array of tools, not bothering to mention to the terrier that he was terrible at figuring out which tool was which. He took a moment inspecting each tool with utmost attention, trying to match the tool using the name.

_A Spanner, what does the name make you think of…_

Of course, there were currently thousands of results in his head, some of them were quite embarrassing and others were funny which made him crack a smile as he kept going through each mental answer. He tried recalling those few times where he assisted his amphibian friend with the Great Fox's engines or other parts of the ship, looking for one where the toad had mentioned a 'spanner' and where he had taught the fox about the basic tools.

_Maybe I should have paid more attention to his ramblings back then…_

"Hey, what's taking ya so long?" The terrier's voiced jerked him from his thoughts and back to eyeing certain tools before he randomly took one and hand it down to the canine. "Thanks."

He sighed in relief as he apparently got the right tool for the terrier. Once again, his mind drifted away for the next few minutes. The whole time, he continued to plan and find ways to save Krystal and followed with them was the ever growing fear of the black cat harming her at any given moment including now.

_Most of the spare Arwing IIs on the Great Fox are badly maintained and could probably fall apart if someone was to jump on its wing or into the cockpit. Wait…_

A bit of hope rose inside of him as he looked down at the terrier's legs. Maybe he could help fix the fighters and get them back in shape for battle. With that in mind, he tried to think of a way to start a talk with the canine and eventually ask him to repair the ships.

"Hey, Henry?" He asked as his mind continued to get the right wording and sentences. "How much of the Arwing's schematics do you know?"

"Eh? Arwings?" The terrier pulled out from under the G-diffuser with a thoughtful look on his face. "I'd say enough."

"What exactly does _enough _mean?"

"It means…" The old dog got back up to his feet and walked around the yard, scanning the grassy and littered ground for something. "That I basically know enough to fix an Arwing."

_Perfect._

"Do you think you could help me get the old spare ones in the Great Fox back in shape in a day or two?"

"Eh, I'm not sure if I got the time." Henry replied with an unsure and confused tone. "You ain't thinking of flying back out there to get the ones who ambushed you so soon, are ya?"

The vulpine gave him a stern look, indicating that he wasn't joking when he asked. The terrier sighed and shot back the stern look before shaking his head and walking towards the door. Before he entered, he stopped for another moment and looked over his shoulder.

"I could but I want you to rest."

"I don't have time, Henry." The vulpine growled as his paws curled into fists and its nails digging into his palm. "The more time we waste, the higher the chance they might do something to her…Something terrible…."

"I know Fox, but you've been through a lot lately." The terrier gave the vulpine a knowing glance. "You've almost died last week and just a day ago, you were floating in Sargassian space in a stranded escape pod _unconscious_."

"How'd you know my condition during the Columbus attack?"

"The news, of course."

"But I was taken back to my own dreadnaught for medical attention." The fox said, shaking his head. "There's no way that people would know I was close to death."

"Well, information leaks. It's the media, they'll always find a way to get what they want for their front page."

"Great…" The vulpine muttered before deciding to change the topic. "Where're you going?"

"It's almost time for me to get the bar open." The terrier answered, turning back towards the door again before adding. "Stay out of trouble."

Without letting Fox to retort, he disappeared behind the door and left the vulpine standing next to the engine in awkward silence.

_Since when did he get so serious?_

He had never seen the old dog like that. Then again, he had only seen him when he was at the bar. Sighing, the vulpine patted the engine before making his way to the door, deciding to explore the canine's house and hoping that the terrier wouldn't mind.

_There's still tomorrow…_

The thought made him growl, he shouldn't be stalling here. He should be out there by now and save the vixen from the damn cat. Once again, the thought of what that bastard of a feline could do to Krystal made him cringe and let another louder growl escape him.

_I won't keep my feet on the ground any longer. I'm going to get her for sure._

IIIII (The next day) IIIII

The terrier glared down at the small note in his palm as he took another sip of coffee, a look of frustration and irritation evident in his eyes as he glanced up out the window to see two identical cargo transporters outside and on top of them were something hidden under large sheets of cover. He could already guess what they were.

_That boy sure is stubborn._

He let out a sigh of defeat and left the note back on the table before walking towards the exit and scratching the back of his head. But after a moment of thinking, he shrugged to himself and looked out to the two vehicles once again. Flipping his fusion wrench in his paws, he smirked as he descended down a flight of stairs before heading towards them.

_Well, it won't be too bad to fix 'em up. I do need something to fiddle with during my day off._

He grabbed the covers and pulled them off before frowning at the sight in front of him. The Arwings looked perfectly fine from what he could tell. The only thing that made the fighters looked old and bad was the dust that blanketed them everywhere.

He blew the dust, creating a cloud as he swept a hand on the surface of the craft, coughing as he did so. Maybe that wasn't a smart idea. When he blinked the last of the dust from his eyes, he looked down at what he revealed; the hatch that gave access to the fighter's engines. Cautiously, he used the wrench in his hands and tried to unbolt the corners.

When the last of the bolts that held the hatch in place was removed, he popped it off and once again frowned as he glanced over the rust colored wirings and mechanical parts inside.

"Ho' boy."

IIIII

He walked past the entry way of the complex, ignoring the guards who gave him widened stares as he entered the building. The only thing in his mind right now was the plan he had thought up as he walked down the lobby, reaching to the reception and knocking on the counter to get the receptionist's attention.

The collie turned around to look at him. At first, her expression was that of boredom and annoyance but that changed the moment she laid eyes on the visitor's face.

" ?" She stuttered, shocked to see the vulpine who'd left not a day ago had came back.

"Tell Peppy I'm coming up."

"But-"

Before she could refuse, he left her and headed straight for the elevators. Just as he got to them, one of the lifts opened up. Without hesitation, he entered it and pressed for the top floor and watched as the world outside was closed out by the doors sliding shut.

A moment later, the doors opened once again and out stepped the fox, looking down both sides before heading to the left towards the General's office. As he got close, he could hear the old hare's shocked blurting.

"What?!" Peppy's muffled voice sounded through the door. "Fox is here?!"

He opened the set of doors and stepped in. "Yes, I'm here."

"Fox!"

"Peppy, I need your help."

"But how-"

"There's no time!" The vulpine growled as the rabbit sat back down on his chair, seeing his eyes filled with worry and anger.

"Calm down, Fox. This isn't you."

"He has her."

"Who?" Then he noticed what was going on as he paused for a moment before his mind put together the pieces. "Where's Krystal?"

"Panther…"

Silence filled the room as the hare looked out the window and back at the vulpine. He'd never seen Fox so enraged. It was enough to send a shiver down his spine when he looked at him. His emerald eyes burned with anger as his expression was as hard as stone. He could see the vulpine's claws digging into the armrest of the chair as he continued to stare up at him.

"Where do you think they have her at?"

"Sargasso."

"I'll send some of the best to go with you-"

"No." He interrupted his former mentor sternly. "I just want to borrow two pilots."

"Fox, that's suicide!" The hare snapped back, his voice almost to a point of shouting. "I won't let you do this. I've almost lost you already from last time's attack. Let the military handle it this time."

"No! I'm going in there. She needs me. I need to save her!"

"You're going insane!"

There was silence in the room afterwards. They both stared each other down as tension rose. The hare could hear the vulpine's low growl as time went on. It was going to get bad if he doesn't give an answer to him. But the rabbit finally broke the silence.

"Fox…You need to calm yourself first before I consider this."

"Please Peppy!" This time, the vulpine sounded as if he was pleading as his ears drooped and his head hung low. "Every second we waste, there's a chance something bad will happen to her…I just…"

"Fox."

His former mentor's stern call of his name caused him to look up with watered eyes, his teeth grit together as he waited for the elder hare's answer. He could see the shocked look of his as time continued to tick away but every second felt like an eternity as he sat there.

"If you let me deploy several squadrons nearby, I'll let you." His answer caused him to sit up straight again. "But, you must call them for assistance when things gets too much for only you and the two you bring with to handle. Can you promise me that?"

The vulpine thought in silence for a moment, his eyes glued to the ground before he nodded and looked back up at the hare. "I will."

"Who are you thinking of recruiting?"

He gave the hare a determined look as he answered.

"Tyson Metz and Gordon Wheeler."

IIIII

**Author's Note: Yeah, you could see I've once again brought back some more OCs that I used a few chapters back. I hope that's not a bad thing. :S But I do plan on having several OCs playing major roles as the story progresses and I'd hope it'd end up good.**

**Again, I have to thank all of you who reviewed last update! I appreciate any feedback or reviews, whether they're good or bad, all of them are welcome and I don't mind being criticized. Actually, I encourage you to criticize my writing. It's the only way I could improve!**

**See ya'll next time!**


	17. New Star Fox

**Author's Note: Finally! I'm terribly sorry about taking so long to update but fear no more! I'm back with a new chapter. And I'll be honest, this is probably the worst chapter I've written...In my own mind anyway...I could have kept changing it but I seriously didn't want to make you guys wait. And so I chose one that I believe to be the best possible version and posted it. If there are any complaints then please feel free to leave it in the reviews.**

**Speaking of reviews, I could tell you that I was gaping when I noticed the amount of feedback I've gotten from my last update. It's probably the highest amount of reviews I've gotten so far; 14 reviews! I literally jumped out of my chair and cheered, nearly crying, believe it or not. (Whew...Manly of me...) and I have to say THANK YOU! Thank you so much for the feedback! And I really hope I could get as much again. xD**

_**Chapter 17: New Star Fox**_

"Metz! Wheeler!"

The drill instructor's barking made the two flinch and broke their concentration, causing them to collapse from their planking positions. The lupine growled as he scratched the concrete parade grounds before pushing himself up and sat down. Glancing to his right, he could see his canid friend sprawled on his own back as he panted. He smirked at the Rottweiler before turning his attention to the front as the drill instructor towered over him.

"Get up, you two!"

"Sir, don't tell me we're in trouble again, we did nothing at all!" The wolf retorted as he stood up, staring straight into the shorter raccoon's glaring eyes.

"The General wants you two as soon as possible, so don't give me that damn attitude, cadet!" The shouted back, causing the lupine to close his eye shut and pin his ears before stepping past him and nudging the dog with his boot. "I'm not sure if it's trouble or a god damn commendation but I can tell you that you don't want to keep the general waiting! Now go! GO!"

The drill instructor gave the Rottweiler a like kick to the side, enough to cause him to yelp and jump to his feet before the raccoon pulled out a baton and smacking them above the thighs. The two cadets whimpered as they ran across the field with the instructor chasing them and making sure they were out the parade ground.

"Alright you two! Stop here." The raccoon sheathed his baton back and brought his hands up, whistling through his fingers towards one of his fellow drill instructors. "Tommy! Come here and do me a favor will ya?" As soon as the name was called out, an orange tabby cat in a drill sergeant's uniform jogged up to him. "Get these two to the General."

The feline nodded and turned towards the two. They both braced themselves, expecting the new drill instructor to beat the living crap out of them but none of that came. Instead, the cat gestured them to follow as she walked by them.

"Come on you two."

They both scrambled to their feet and followed behind her as they exited the training grounds and entered the military complex, keeping their distance from the instructor just in case.

_Oh no, I ain't falling for the chick scam. _

With that thought in mind, the lupine continued to have a shoving contest with his canine companion, trying to get the other one up front first. As they were doing that, he caught the amused look on the feline as they passed through another set of doors. It didn't take them long before they reached the lobby which housed the offices of military officials.

The three walked down the carpeted lobby, the cadets awkwardly tailing the feline instructor until they stumbled upon the closed doors of elevators. If one was to look at the view, it would look extremely strange as the space between the cat and the two recruits was ridiculous.

Not long after the drill instructor had pushed the button, a ding sounded to their left followed by the opening doors of the elevator. The two recruits looked back at the cat only to see her shooing them into the lift before leaving.

"H-hey! Ma'am, wait! What're we supposed to do now?" Gordon called out for the cat, causing her to stop and turn around.

"Did you have to be so damn loud? Everyone's looking at us." The lupine smacked the backside of his canine friend's head, getting an 'ouch' from him.

"Don't tell me you boys don't know how to operate the lifts." The cat replied with a teasing tone and chuckled before turning around. "The General's office is at the top."

Their eyes darted between the control panel and the feline as she walked away, wasn't she supposed to take them all the way to the General's office? They were left awkwardly standing in the elevator, nearly forgetting why they were here in the first place before Tyson shook off the confusion and pressed the top floor.

The door closed shut, replacing the gentle chatter and other miscellaneous sounds from the lobby with jazzy elevator music.

"What did we do to get ourselves into this?"

"Not sure, but hopefully it's not something bad." Tyson answered, recalling the past few days after the dogfight they had with the two elite pilots from Star Fox.

"Huh? So I guess you didn't stir up big trouble?"

"What? Hell no!"

They were interrupted by the ding as they jerked their attention back to the doors and watched it slide open, revealing a long hallway with several doors including one at the very end of it.

"So…Which one's the General's office?" The Rottweiler asked, scratching his head as they stepped out.

"What do _you _think?!" The lupine snapped back, growling in frustration and point straight ahead.

Squinting, the two could read the name plate on the side of the door at the end, engraved; _General's Office; Peppy Hare_. Just at the same time after reading the name plate, he heard his canine friend clearing his throat before he heard him mutter and walking forward.

"..Well that was embarrassing…"

"You don't say?" Tyson smirked as they both walked down the hall.

As they walked past the other doors, they could hear the noises from inside each room. Mainly, the sound of papers being moved or crumpled to loud muffled shouts as if an officer is lecturing some lower ranks. Some of the shouting involved vulgar slurs and such, causing the lupine to smirk in amusement.

After a good half minute walk down the long hall, they reached the General's office. But at this point, they started to feel tense as they have no idea what they were brought here for. Instead, they exchanged glances and gulped, not knowing what to expect.

"You open the door." The wolf said, giving his canid friend a light punch.

What? No, _you _open it! Why always me?"

The lupine sighed, shaking his head in defeat as he caught the glare his friend gave him. "Fine."

Hesitantly, he grabbed onto the handles on the set of double doors, pausing just a moment to take a deep breath and calm himself down. His blood raced as he wondered what's in store for him and his friend as he slowly opened up the doors, letting the rays from the afternoon sun splash their faces through the windows as they entered.

The General stood up from his desk and gave them a nod as a greeting which the two responded by standing at attention and saluting.

"Ah, you two are finally here." The old hare gave them a verbal greeting before sitting back down and waving them dismissively. "At ease and speak freely."

"Yes sir." The lupine answered as both of them relaxed. This was the first time both of them had entered the General's office, giving them the opportunity to explore their surroundings as their eyes darted around and browsed the many medals and other military achievements that were on the wall.

_Medals, file cabinets, portraits, a fox… Wait, FOX?_

His eyes froze for a moment after passing by a familiar vulpine sitting on the side couch before returning to the figure and gaped.

Sat down with his arms crossed over his chest was the one he challenged not long ago. But something was different. The proud vulpine that had instructed him for one day had now a more threatening look as his expression seemed as if carved out of stone and his green eyes showed clear fear and anger. This didn't look like the same McCloud he had met only a few days ago.

"Metz, Wheeler." The General's voice snapped their attention back to him, pausing just for a moment before speaking again. "You two are no longer a part of the Arwing squadron."

"What?!" The lupine blurted out, rage swelling inside as the words the old hare had spoken out sank in. "We're kicked?!"

"No, not kicked out but reassigned."

There was a pause after hearing that they were reassigned. But it was broken when they both blurted out the question that resided in their minds.

"To what?"

"Star Fox."

IIIII

The door of her room hissing open broke her trance of daydream, causing her to jerk her head towards it to see the dark form of the black feline. She narrowed her eyes into a glare as he came closer to her. But the only reaction she ever got from the cat was the smug look of amusement and it only made her hate him so much more.

"Panther heard you're not accepting the meals given to you."

"So what if I don't eat?" She snapped back, her glare intensified for a second before her expression softened and her gaze lowered down to the floor.

He simply grunted in response before he gave her an actual reply with a hint of fake sympathy. "My, how could you say such a thing? I don't want my lovely blue rose to wither…" He walked the last bit of distance between him and her before having one of his filthy paws brush her hair. "…And you will not."

His choice of words disgusted her, causing a low growl to escape her throat. She really wished she could just rebel against him and knock him out right on spot. But she couldn't. Not when there was literally no way of escape out of this ship and that the guards outside would happily take her out with their weapons.

All she could do right now was sit and pray. Pray for a hope that was near impossible to come true.

"What do you want…" She growled under her breath, trying her best to intimidate the black cat.

He stopped stroking her hair, allowing an amused huff to escape him before he turned around. "I'm just here to tell you that we're heading to Venom and then off system."

_Off system?!_

Her eyes widened as she turned to face him. "What?"

"We're not going to stay in this system." He repeated with a hint of amusement before adding in with a seductive tone. "And you'll be with me…"

She growled in response and curled her paws into fists, ready to lunge at him. He snickered and shook his head before exiting her room, leaving the vixen all by herself. She wanted to smash something, do _anything _just to vent out her rage.

But as much as she wanted to, she didn't.

_I'm better than that. Calm yourself…_

She looked out the window again, staring off into the dark expanse of space. It's only been two days since the incident and she began to wonder if the simian was really telling the truth. What if it was all a lie that Panther had schemed so to calm her when he captured her and dispose of the vulpine? She couldn't help but cringe if that was the case.

_But…_

Just as she was about to start an argument in her mind, she heard a couple of muffled thuds and grunts, causing her ears to twitch and jerking her head up to the doorway. With on last thud, the doors slid open and out came the monkey that offered his help.

"Dash!"

"Keep it down!" The simian hissed as he went back out and dragged the two unconscious guards into the room. "I've got an escape vessel prepped to get off this ship."

Just hearing that there was a way out gave a spark of hope in the vixen as she nodded in response and stood up. Searching through the knocked out guards, the simian grabbed a blaster from them and tossed it to the vixen which she expertly caught it and poked her head outside the door.

"Clear."

"Follow me."

She nodded before stepping out and taking point to the left. As the monkey stepped out, he gestured her to follow him and they sped down the empty luxurious carpeted hallway. As they ran, she looked down at the back of her rescuer with an unsured expression.

_I hope this isn't a trick…_

As she wandered off in her thoughts, running, her mind once again echoed the reassuring words the monkey had said and once again, she thought about Fox. Worry washed over her as she thought about him and she grimaced.

_I'm coming Fox…_

She snapped her attention back to reality as they rounded up a corner, disappearing into the maintenance way of the ship. That's when she realized how big the dreadnought they were on really is as even the maintenance shafts were huge.

"Come on!"

She abruptly nodded and they continued through the vast tunnel with one goal; Escaping.

IIIII

"…And that's why you two are reassigned to be under Fox McCloud's command."

The two cadets, now recruits of Star Fox stared agape at the old hare. Sure, it was a great honor, but they had no intention to be in a mercenary team.

"But sir-"

"It's been done." Fox's voice interrupted the lupine's, causing the two recruits to look at him. He stood with a more than concerned look on his face as he spoke. "As sudden as it feels like, we don't have the time to keep arguing."

The two silenced themselves as they could see what seemed like tears forming from the hardened hero's eyes. But just when it seemed like he was about to let them fall, the vulpine turned around and walked towards the door, stopping after he opened them.

"Come on."

The two looked back at the old hare sitting at the desk but all they received from the General was a nod which told them that this was serious and that they have no way to get out of it. Defeated, the first to give in was the wolf as he let out a sigh and stood up which the Rottweiler followed suit shortly afterwards.

Peppy watched as the three left his office, his mind filled with concerns for what would be the outcome. Did he make the right decision here? He had a lot to think as the set of double doors to his office began to slow close by itself.

_Don't do anything stupid, Fox…_

IIIII

**Author's Note: So there's chapter 17! I hope this ain't too bad. And if it is, tell me and if there are plenty of people not satisfied, I will take this chapter down and improve it and then re-post it.**

**Again, a huge thanks to those who reviewed last chapter and update! I'll try my best to update the next part ASAP! So stay tuned and I'll see you all next time!**


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